Two separate flooding incidents involving pipe failure hit campus the past week, resulting in cut water access to one of the women’s dorms and damage to part of the dining hall ceiling.
The first incident occurred last weekend between 11 a.m. and noon on Saturday, January 18. According to Charlie Smith, maintenance building manager, a main supply pipe (10 inches in diameter) from the town “sheared off” near the front of the campus center. A pool of water formed directly above the area, alerting personnel that there was a leak. It is unknown whether the cause of the break was due to cold winter weather or to ground shifting. Regardless, the situation demanded immediate action due to poor drainage on the street and the potential flooding of the campus center basement.
College maintenance employees first inspected the leak, but because the line was owned by the town, a town plumbing outfit was eventually called to do the repairs. To repair the pipe, however, it was necessary to shut off the water in both Gillette and the campus center for several hours.
Andrew Cahill, lead custodian, alerted both the dining hall and the RD on duty in order to prep both buildings to function water-less for the majority of the afternoon and evening. The Gillette ARD, Samantha Krzyzewski, senior, was on duty at the time. Krzyzewski described that her first responsibility when she received the call “was to alert Gillette residents as soon as possible” so that they could be prepared.
Throughout the day residents of Gillette were unable to turn on the taps in the kitchens and bathrooms and were unable to do laundry or take showers. The dining hall, in the absence of water to run the dishwasher, was forced to serve food on paper plates and plastic utensils for both lunch and dinner. Krzyzewski remarked that she was impressed with the can-do spirit among the Gillette residents on Saturday particularly. “I’m impressed that when this came up people were flexible and understanding during the situation,” she said, and commented on groups of residents going on “bathroom parties” to the nearby Campus Fine Arts building.
The second flooding incident occurred on Monday, January 20 when a boiler pipe burst in the cafeteria, unleashing a cloud of steam and hot water which flooded down the cafeteria steps to the lower floors. The humidity from the hot water and steam prompted the alarm to evacuate the building. Students shuffled out of the dining hall, some leaving their half-eaten plates on the tables and other taking their dishes to nearby buildings to finish lunch.
The cause of the second flood proved to be due to a broken pipe fitting which was quickly fixed within two hours of the incident, just in time for dinner. Unlike the Gillette incident, water access was not cut off to the Campus Center and dining hall. However, the areas of the ceiling which sustained significant damage are remaining open so as to fully dry.