Residents of a North Vancouver neighbourhood are asking questions after a water pipe ruptured and caused significant flooding – and damage – for the second time in just over a week.
The pipe burst Friday evening, sending a torrent of water crashing onto numerous properties on St. Albans Avenue, located northeast of the north end of Lonsdale Avenue.
“Our neighbours came running up and said it's happening again, and out we came and the water main was broken all the way up the street,” said resident Susan Archibald.
“It appears that there are two or three breaks up the street so I would assume it's aging infrastructure that's not holding up properly."
The 15-centimentre-wide cement water main first broke around 7 a.m. on April 14, scattering debris across the street, causing a large crack in the pavement, and badly damaging at least one home.
Garth Sylte told CTV News last week that his family's home had several centimetres of water in the garage, and some in the basement.
"The whole driveway was a solid sheet of water," Sylte, noting that his yard was filled with rocks and debris.
Sylte's family home appeared to have suffered the worst damage, but at least three other neighbouring homes also suffered some flooding.
Just over a week later, four more homes took on significant water in a flood that rook crews 20 minutes to stop, causing an estimated $100,000 worth of damage in one of the residences.
“This is worse because there are more houses involved,” said Archibald, noting her home was spared significant damage because she had put sand bags down.
“The way they respond is to fix the little problem, but I think the big problem is probably the infrastructure under the road needs to be replaced… it’s not good.”
Chris Alexander, section manager of utilities maintenance and construction with the District of North Vancouver, says replacing the pipe will likely be made a priority given its less than stellar behavior in the past week.
"It's an older pipe installed in 1967, I believe,” he said. “It's probably due for replacement and I think we'll be putting that to the top of our list now that we've had two breaks in the span of a week here."
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Scott Roberts