Water line repaired in Wheeling

After working through the night, Wheeling employees repaired a water main break at about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and restored water to about 20 businesses in an industrial area of the village.

The break occurred about 6:30 a.m. Monday near Inland Die Casting on the 100 block of Carpenter Avenue. Eight public works employees spent the day at the site and an additional two were called out late last night, said Tony Stavros, Wheeling’s director of public works.

“It was a long night,” he said. “The guys were out there for almost 24 hours straight and had to dig through four feet of frost.”

The water lines in the area are almost 40 years old which may be why the line broke a second time at about 5:30 p.m., Stavros said.

Inland will be responsible for repaying the village for all fees related to fixing the water line — including paying for the salaries and benefits of workers at the site and the costs to run the construction equipment, Stavros said.

“Typically, this would be responsibility of the owner, but we couldn’t wait four or five hours for a contractor to arrive,” he said after Monday’s village board meeting.

Water lines are susceptible to breaks in the winter because frost causes the ground to shift and put pressure on the pipes, Stavros said.