UPDATE: Pipe procedure deemed successful

A procedure to repair a 50-foot section of a leaky, corroding wastewater pipe was successful last night.

Beginning at 10 p.m. last night, a hired contractor and the Public Works Department sent a small machine into the pipe to scrub the walls of it before placing a new pipe lining over the old pipe.

The life expectancy of that new section of repaired pipe could now be 50 to 75 years.

For Longboat Key motorists, the $30,000 repair also means Gulf of Mexico Drive will not need to be torn up just north of Bay Isles Road to replace the pipe.

“The procedure was successful, and right now they are putting the dirt back in the hole,” Town Manager Bruce St. Denis said. “The big hole in the area could be gone in the next day or two.”

St. Denis praised both the work of the town’s Public Works Department and the contractor.

“Service was never interrupted for Longboat Key residents, and that’s pretty impressive considering the magnitude of this project,” said St. Denis, who said most of the department still is working with little to no sleep since Friday to correct the problem.

Crews are working to fill the hole slowly to ensure the pipe can withstand the soil and concrete that will be placed on top of the pipe, which sits 15 feet underground.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].