Water Main

I've read about all the improvements to the park for 2015. I haven't read if any major work was done during the off season on the water main that feeds the park. I attended coastermania last year. went back to the park the next day (Saturday) to ride some more coasters and buy some souvenirs.That's when the main water pipe broke and they were force to close the park. It was a beautiful day and it looked to be a very busy day at the park, add to that, Ohio bike week and they had to turn people away. I would think that getting that sixty year (guessing the age) pipe replaced would be at the top of the list for CP and the city of Sandusky. Any updates on this ? Thanks!

I dont think anything replacement has been done, but I'm sure there have been some discussions between Cedar Fair and the City of Sandusky. Cedar Point agreed to kick in another $500,000 to Sandusky. Then you throw in an increase in the admissions and income tax and thats an additional $2.8 million added to the city's coffers. They are saying about $400,000 per year would be allocated to improve infrastructure. I thought I read somewhere that Cedar Point is responsible for about 98% of Sandusky's admission tax revenue.

At around $1M per mile, I don't think it is at the top of their list.

25 mil for a roller coaster, but you're not going to spend money on major infrastructure that your business depends on and that water main break last year shut down the park for two days on a nice weekend and that's not a priority?

Two days out of how many years of service? I'm sure it's a priority, just not a top priority.

The water main is public infrastructure owned by the municipal utility. Public works projects are typically planned years in advance of construction through a prioritization process that is based on a variety of factors. I think most people would agree that the water line serving the peninsula is a priority from a tourism and economic development standpoint. However, the entire water supply system has to be maintained and it requires a comprehensive strategy. There may be older pipes that are in far greater need of replacement that currently supply water to the line that serves CP.

Most municipalities are also dealing with aging combined sewer systems (sanitary and storm) that need to be separated due to a mandate from the federal government in order to comply with the Clean Water Act. Transportation networks are also deteriorating and because of another federal mandate cities are being required to bring sidewalks into compliance with ADA standards. These are all things that should be done, mind you, but the resources to accomplish these tasks are limited and the needs keep expanding.

One break also doesn't mean that the entire line is close to or in imminent danger of failing. I am sure that CP and Sandusky have checked into the condition of the line, and have started plans if anything was found.

I forget where I read about this, but supposedly Cedar Fair imrpoved the water lines at every park during the offseason.

Right. Without Cedar Point Sandusky would just blow off the map.
Suppose it's possible that Sandusky was a city before 1960? Cedar Point wasn't keeping much alive then, including itself.

Must be a post apocalyptic wasteland during the offseason........ ;)

Cedar Point is not what keeps the city "alive", and Sandusky would continue to exist were Cedar Point to disappear tomorrow. Sandusky has one of the Great Lakes' largest coal ports, thriving fishing and shipping businesses and a solid industrial base that includes foundries and food processing equipment manufacturers, among others. Ohio's "north coast" has a thriving tourist trade aside from Cedar Point (I know, I know, it seems amazing -- but there are people who go to Lake Erie for fishing or boating, and never go near the park).

I'm very confident that both the park and the city have assessed the water main and have prioritized it properly. Were the main to break again, it would be significant, yes -- but not "huge". Keep things in perspective. The water main broke after how many decades of service? And was out for just two days?

It is a fact that the city of Sandusky would continue to exist without Cedar Point, just not sure how much of an existence that would be. There are great areas around Sandusky, such as the Bass Islands, Kelly's Island, Marblehead, Catawba etc... which make up the North Coast. However, the City of Sandusky proper is pretty much a dump.

Actually, if Callahan Auto goes under, the whole town goes under.

JUnderhill said:

One break also doesn't mean that the entire line is close to or in imminent danger of failing. I am sure that CP and Sandusky have checked into the condition of the line, and have started plans if anything was found.

I'm an engineer who designs water distribution systems.

I've seen cast iron water mains over 100 years old that look like new and much newer pipes fail.

I could fill a full page with the number of things that can cause a pipe to fail.

Problem is,unless a pressure pipe, like a water main ,is in really bad shape (leaking), I don't know any "simple" way to tell what condition a pipe like this is in.

The primary reasons we replace water mains are that they became undersized or because of a build up of "scale' that narrows the pipe.

You can clean scale,but in most cases,its better to install a new main.

What I can tell you is that a "spot" failure,especially if its what we call a circumferential break,doesn't necessarily indicate a problem with the whole line.

If, however, they continue to have problems,that's another story.

Fortunately,if you do need to put in a new main,it can be done with while the existing line remains in service.

In the history of Cedar Point, at least which has been covered by media, how many times has the water main burst or failed? This seems to be major over reaction to a random occurrence.

If a water main breaks on your street during winter (when they commonly break) how often is the line replaced versus the entire system on your street? My bet is the water company just repairs the main and moves on to the next one.

I think the water main failed more than once, but the other failures were in the off season.

The problem with the CP main is that it is the only source of water to the peninsula and a failure affects many more people than a typical break in a city main.

No argument there. I do think that the company and the city have assigned the right priority to the project, which isn't necessarily the highest priority.

In the oil and gas industry we use pigs to inspect, clean, and maintain the underground pipelines. I have no experience with water mains but I guess I just assumed they would have a similar process to inspect them. For a pipeline as short as they one as the one that serves CP I wouldn't think it would be that difficult to do - especially during the offseason.

JUnderhill said:

In the oil and gas industry we use pigs to inspect, clean, and maintain the underground pipelines. I have no experience with water mains but I guess I just assumed they would have a similar process to inspect them. For a pipeline as short as they one as the one that serves CP I wouldn't think it would be that difficult to do - especially during the offseason.

We can do that for water mains also.

Problem is,the main has to be taken out service while its cleaned and T.V. inspected.

I don't know about Ohio,but in N.J. that requires putting in a temporary above ground main and temporary domestic and fire services.

The temporary mains are usually aluminum and will freeze,so we don't do any of this type of work from the middle of November through the end of March.

That's why we find its usually more cost effective to install a new main and keep the old one in service till we're done.