Contractor repairing gas line damaged by rain

A contractor on Monday began making emergency repairs to protect a gas line that was exposed when recent heavy rains roiled Sand Creek.

Tezak Construction will cover the gas line and stabilize the sandy soil around it until material needed to make permanent repairs is available in about six weeks, said city spokeswoman Mary Scott.

Last weekend's heavy rains destroyed what is called a drop structure on Sand Creek just south of Platte Avenue between the flea market and Powers Boulevard.

The 20-foot drop structure was essentially large boulders grouted together and was designed to lessen the grade of the creek bed and slow the flow of water.

Last weekend's heavy rains undermined the rip-rap under the drop structure, causing it to collapse. Rushing water then eroded the sandy creek bed, exposing the 4-foot gas line, a fiber optic conduit, other communications lines and an abandoned water line.

The massive flow of water also exposed a pier piling of the Sand Creek Bridge on Platte Avenue. City engineers have determined the piling is anchored in bedrock, and its exposure does not present an immediate danger.

Colorado Springs' Stormwater Enterprise has been monitoring the aging drop structure and had scheduled to replace it this summer.

That work, estimated to cost $600,000, will be done as soon as special metal sheets are available. Tezak Construction will drive the metal sheets vertically into the bedrock and anchor them with large boulders and concrete.

The emergency work begun Monday is expected to cost $25,000, Scott said.