Thousands in Brazil Evacuate Homes After Water Pipe Ruptures
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — About 2,000 people in northeastern Brazil were living away from their homes Saturday after a pipe in a water diversion project ruptured, damaging a dam and flooding the project's power plant, authorities said.
Rogério Marinho, minister of regional development, told The Associated Press that the people were told to leave home as a precaution late Friday afternoon after the concrete conduit broke open in the city of Jati, in Ceara state.
He said water shooting from the ruptured conduit damaged about 40 meters (130 feet) of a 140-meter (460-foot) wall of the dam holding the reservoir fed by the pipeline. Workers needed about 4 1/2 hours to contain the spill, he said.
“The situation of the dam is absolutely fine and we have already started work to restore the structure’s wall,” Marinho said by telephone from the accident site.
He said the evacuated residents should be able to return home within 72 hours.
The dam is part of an enormous project to divert water from the Sao Francisco, the most important river in northeastern Brazil, to supply arid regions in three states.
Related News
From Archive
- Inside Sempra’s 72-mile pipeline with 18 major trenchless crossings
- Trump vetoes bill to finish $1.3 billion Colorado water pipeline
- PHMSA warns of heat risks in aging plastic gas distribution pipelines following deadly Pennsylvania explosion
- Infrastructure failure releases 100,000 gallons of wastewater in Houston; repairs ongoing
- OSHA seeks $1.2 million fine after fatal trench collapse in Connecticut
- Worm-like robot burrows underground to cut power line installation costs
- First tunnel boring machines complete testing for Hudson Tunnel Project
- Infrastructure failure releases 100,000 gallons of wastewater in Houston; repairs ongoing
- Construction jobs stumble into 2026 after weak year
- NWPX grows water infrastructure portfolio with Colorado precast facility
Comments