The sewage main break in the Industrial Canal has been ongoing and the efforts of the divers doing the repairs are notable. Josh Lambert is a diver with Specialty Diving of Louisiana and says the team of specialists on-site is having to deal with severe circumstances.
“There’s no visibility. Maybe an inch if you’re lucky,” Lambert explains. It’s a process of having to feel the jagged metal pieces of the broken piping in darkness, navigating completely by touch. Due to the particularly nasty nature of the work, Lambert emphasizes that specially sealed suits and gloves are worn during this process.
Divers doing the repairs are also having to contend with currents within the Industrial Canal and wake from the vessels still passing through that canal along with working blind underwater.
“On something like this, we send out experienced divers and make sure a good guy is on the other side of the radio. That way, when you’re drawing a mental picture, you’re able to put it down on paper and assess it,” Lambert explained.
Repairs to a broken sewage main require extraordinary effort
Repairs to a broken sewage main require extraordinary effort
