Here Comes The Flood
So there’s a massive water main break not far away from here, and a chunk of Kendall Square is flooded.
They had to evacuate some buildings adjacent to the break, including the Marriott hotel, because basements were getting flooded and the buildings might therefore lose power.
Traffic was (maybe still is) totally messed up, but that didn’t affect us, since we could just walk around the affected area.
Unfortunately, the water main break also means that large portions of Cambridge have low or no water pressure.
Including my office, H’s office, and our house.
Bah.
I sure hope they get this fixed soon.
EDIT: Our water pressure seems to have improved, and is now back to normal or close to it.
February 4th, 2005 at 07:02
I went by the flood this morning, just to see what the deal was. The only other people around were a few commuters, a bunch of news reporters (en route to the Shandley case, I’m sure!), and some coffee drinking donut-eating city workers sitting in a truck.
There’s a hole ripped at the intersection of Broadway and Main, at the service entrance to 1CC/the Marriott Hotel. Obviously this was no well planned street work; I can imagine that the dirt went flying yesterday (figuratively and literally) as workers dug to find the leak.
The pipe itself was exposed, and as the aforementioned workers were not paying attention to me, I stood right next to the hole to get a good look. All I can say is: wow! The pipe hole has to be at least two feet by eighteen inches, perhaps even larger. There was water still coming out of the pipe hole, but at a much slower clip than (I imagine) yesterday.
Due to the location of the street work, Broadway is closed from Ames Street to Third Street. There’s not much standing water left on the roads, so traffic coming down Third Street can turn onto Broadway (en route to the Longfellow) and vice versa. All MBTA buses coming into Kendall Square are rerouted and now stop at the corner of Ames and Main Street. There’s an inspector on hand (but not anyone at the nearby T station to tell people where to catch their bus; go figure!).
Last funny note: the Marriott had three trucks parked under the entrance/portico with the name “Trauma Clean”. A bunch of old looking tables blocked the entrance to the underground garage. I’m guessing it’s pretty nasty down there.
This is one flood I’m glad I don’t have to recover from (knock on wood).
February 4th, 2005 at 07:39
Nomi told me yesterday of seeing the water flowing down the street. But she made it home okay.
February 4th, 2005 at 09:14
That’s some hole
Chris, who lives in Cambridge, reports the water’s back on after last night’s Kendall Square pipeburst. In a note to Chris’s comment, Helen adds: There’s a hole ripped at the intersection of Broadway and Main, at the service entrance to…