HTN: Fridid Winter Breaks Water Mains

Water main breaks were up 55-percent in January compared to the same time last year. Crews made 31 repairs last month, when they only made 20 in January 2008. The weather and the freeze-thaw cycle, which causes the ground to "heave," are being blamed. Buffalo has a 900-mile labyrinth of underground pipes, most of which were installed between 1880 and 1890, or from 1920 to 1930. Some lines even go back as far as the mid-1800s.