Newspaper reports claim contractor failed to alert authorities of demolition work.
A contractor that allegedly ruptured a water main, forcing a three-day shutdown of Pennsylvania’s Capitol complex, did not make a required phone call to give utilities and the city advance warning about the work, a newspaper reported Friday.
The Harrisburg Patriot-News said it was unclear whether a call to the Pennsylvania One Call system, required for any projects that involve digging with power equipment, would have prevented the damage to the 36-inch pipe.
United Demolition & Excavating was doing site-preparation work on an industrial site owned by Harsco Corp. when the first rupture occurred Sunday. Crews repairing that break later discovered a separate tear in the main line. They completed a bypass of the damaged section on Wednesday, and city officials said Thursday the system was functioning properly.
Thousands of state employees whose jobs were deemed nonessential were given the day off or sent home early during the shutdown and put in their first full day of work for the week on Thursday. Gov. Corbett has said it was impossible to calculate the cost of the lost work time.
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