Water shut down at about 10 p.m. for Dartmouth's campus and parts of downtown Hanover yesterday when a planned construction project at the corner of Lyme Road and North College Street went awry.
The College had been notified that the town was shutting down a valve, Associate Director of Facilities Operations and Management John Gratiot told The Dartmouth soon after the water pressure slowed to a trickle last night. But lower water pressure -- not an all-out shutdown -- was the expected result from the valve work.
"They told us that everything would work out nicely and there would be no problems," he said. "There are some problems, and there is going to be a water shutdown for a period of time this evening."
Last night, Gratiot estimated that the water should go back on "we would hope" by 2 a.m. -- 4 a.m. at the latest.
As he talked with The Dartmouth, Gratiot was in the process of contacting various College officials about the unexpected water shut down.
He said after he hung up from his interview, he planned to call Safety and Security, The Hanover Inn, and Assistant Director of Engineering and Utilities Frank Roberts, among others. He said Roberts would in turn contact Director of Residential Operations Woody Eckles.
Gratiot said the Office of Residential Life usually notifies students via BlitzMail in advance when water is being shut off, but he emphasized that the College did not predict anything more than a drop in pressure. Students eventually recieved a message at 11:30 p.m. from Safety and Security.
Town Manager Julia Griffin said the town of Hanover notified the College via fax about the scheduled construction after being notified by the contractor two days ago.
"The reason we're doing the work now is that it minimizes the effect on campus," she said. "We have a very short window."
She said it is best to complete this type of operation during the Summer term, when less students are on campus than during other terms -- but she noted that last night's renovation also affected off-campus buildings.
"It's one of the main lines that feeds water to the downtown Hanover area," she explained.
She said last night's work was one in a series of renovations planned for the town's aging water system.
Gratiot explained that the water company has been doing water line renovations for four months and its intent last night was to shut down a valve in order to install new valves.
He said that although unexpected, the water shutdown was not a cause for worry: "This is one of those things that happens."
