Oops ?EUR??,,????'??? I Think We Just Hit a Water Line

Laying PVC pipe is a fairly basic operation, but of course you have to be careful where you dig. On Monday May 9, 2005, a contractor installing PVC pipe for fiber optic lines broke the 36-inch diameter main water line to Miami Beach.

It sounds disastrous, but Miami has three back-up lines, so residents never realized there was a problem, except those driving the Julia Tuttle causeway where the pipe crosses. Lanes were closed on the causeway and the leaked capped by 4:30 that afternoon. An 18-foot section of pipe will have to be repaired.

The fingers are pointing. The city says the contractor is responsible for knowing if there is piping underfoot; the contractor says the pipe was unmarked.