A pipe discharging mass amounts of water led University Facilities to turn off a valve controlling water flow to Sarah Brunet Hall, Millhiser Gymnasium and E. Claiborne Robins Stadium on Monday afternoon.
The steady stream of muddy water was flooding from the pipe outside of Sarah Brunet Hall across Richmond Way toward the parking lot behind Jepson Hall.
Construction has been taking place in front of Robins Stadium, and David Straley, an employee of the University of Richmond’s REACT Facilities Services, said a new part had been installed this afternoon.
The goal of the project is to install a steam tunnel, requiring the relocation of several pipes, Straley said.
REACT Services responds to emergency maintenance issues outside of the normal facilities office hours.
Water from a pipe outside of Sarah Brunet Hall overflowed onto Richmond Way near the Carole Weinstein International Center on Monday afternoon.
The water leak was discovered at approximately 4:35 p.m. by senior Matt Ziluca as he was leaving a class in Sarah Brunet.
“I heard a pop and turned around, [and saw] a lot of rushing water,” Ziluca said. "I stopped, obviously took a video first, and I called UR Non-Emergency hotline."
After Ziluca called the University Police Department, REACT Services were dispatched. Straley said there was no evidence of a pipe bursting. “It didn’t break, it just separated,” Straley said.
University plumber Scott McIntosh said Sarah Brunet Hall, Millhiser Gym and Robins Stadium were the only buildings impacted by the valve that was shut off.
University Communications have not yet responded to a request for comment.
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Contact senior news writer C.J. Slavin at cj.slavin@richmond.edu. Ashlee Korlach contributed reporting.
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