Kent County sewer main line breaks south of Dover
By Editor's note: This story is updated to reflect the repair of the sewer line.
DOVER — A Kent County sewer main broke just south of Dover on Thursday.
The break occurred at the corner of Rising Sun Road and Sandy Hill Trail, according to Kent County Public Works director Diana Golt. The line is a 30-inch concrete pipe and serves residents north of its location.
The leak was discovered sometime before 8 a.m. Thursday, she said, with contractors dispatched to the site to begin to investigate and repair. Repairs were complete about 24 hours later on Friday.
During that time, the county requested that residents preserve water, and Ms. Golt thanked the people that did so.
She also credited the combined effort of her staff, Delmarva Power and contractor George and Lynch for their quick turnaround on repairs.
Ms. Golt said there are a variety of things that could have caused the break. It could have been corrosion at the top, cracks at the bottom due to installation, or even equipment damaging the line, she said.
“We’ve also seen some secondary issues where there’s been other utility installation. Perhaps it was hit 20 years ago, and it took a long time for the crack to develop,” she said.
Ms. Golt said the sewer system’s aging infrastructure could be partly to blame, but the concrete pipes currently in place should last 50 to 100 years.
Enrolled Dover residents were informed of the break through Hyper Reach, the city’s auto-notification system. Users can sign up at https://hyper-reach.com/decityofdover.html.
