The first block of Lincoln Way east of Elm St is blocked to traffic while the Jefferson city crews work to retrieve a piece of equipment stuck under the street during what should have been a routine job.
Jefferson city administrator Mike Palmer explained that the water department was tapping into a water main to provide service for a planned car wash at Oly’s Corner when the “mole” that was boring under Lincoln Way became stuck. “We don’t know if it got stuck in dirt or hit a rock or what, but we’ve got to find it and get it out,” Palmer said.
Boring to tap lines works 98 percent of the time, Palmer said, but this time, a job that should have been finished in only a couple of days is taking an entire week. The crew has had to dig up a portion of the street to get to the lost borer. The job should be finished Friday afternoon.
In cases like this, Oly’s Corner will pay only the $1,000 tapping fee. The city ordinance calls for the city to bear the additional costs when this sort of problem arises.
