GAS LEAK STALLS TRAFFIC ON BUSY STREET

Union Electric officials said a natural gas distribution main that developed a leak Monday in the 1800 block of William Street will be replaced by a new gas line in the coming year.

Cape Girardeau firefighters were called to the site at 7:39 a.m., after a strong odor of natural gas was detected. Firefighters discovered gas from the ruptured main was bubbling up though the ground into the air from cracks along the curb in front of 1827 William.

As a precaution, the entire block was closed to traffic. Motorists were detoured over Good Hope Street. William Street was reopened at 8:25 a.m., after the gas was turned off.

Occupants of a residence at 1827 William were evacuated briefly after detectors indicated the presence of natural gas in the basement. It could not be immediately determined if the gas was a result of the fractured gas main or some other problem.

After locating the leak, Union Electric gas department employees bolted a stainless steel sleeve around the cracked main and sealed it. Gas service was restored around 9 a.m.

UE spokesman Bob Talley said gas service to other residences along William Street was not interrupted by the broken main.

"This is a six-inch, high pressure (50 pounds per square inch) cast iron distribution line that ties the east and west ends of the city with our natural gas distribution system," Talley said. "Residential gas customers are served by a low pressure (15 pounds per square inch) gas line that's located near the high pressure line."

Talley said both the high pressure line on William and a similar, four-inch high pressure gas line on Good Hope are scheduled to be replaced by a new, eight-inch plastic or steel pipe gas main that will be installed along Good Hope. Talley said when the new line is completed, the 6-inch gas main on William will be abandoned in place.

"Our current plans are to begin construction of the new gas main this coming year," said Talley. "It will start in the 700 block of Good Hope and extend west to about Louisiana Street. The rest of the line, from Louisiana to Sheridan, is scheduled to be completed in 1993."

Talley said the gas main on William isn't as old as some of the other cast iron gas mains that were installed in the 1940s and '50s and are still in operation.

He said the William Street line was constructed in 1961, at a time when cast iron pipe was considered the safest and most efficient method to handle natural gas.

"At that time, the technology did not exist that led to the development of the soft, pliable, plastic pipe that we are now using," he explained. "Our emphasis during the coming decade is to replace all of the cast iron main in our distribution and service system."

A check of Southeast Missourian records indicates the William Street high pressure gas line has given Union Electric its share of repair problems. In February 1986, a leak developed in the gas main at the intersection of William and Sheridan. In November 1988, a break in the line occurred in the 1400 block of William. The following year, another leak occurred in November 1989 at the intersection of William and Henderson.

In November 1967, a crack occurred in a six-inch, high pressure, cast iron gas line at the intersection of Independence and West End Boulevard.