Gas Main Break Detours Traffic, Kills Cousin Hugo's Lunch

The gas main break that caused a detour off Hanley Road between Manchester Road and turned out to be from a 12-inch gas main, not an 8-inch, according to Maplewood fire chief Terry Merrell.

It was a high-pressure line, and the noise from the escaping gas was loud enough to make talking in the area difficult.

Merrell also said the line was ruptured in two places by a piece of construction equipment. The break was just south of where the railroad bridge crosses Hanley Road.

A driver called at 11:34 to report that he smelled gas and dust was blowing into the air.

He said realized it was a significant problem when they arrived, since the break was next to Hanley Road and the railroad tracks, and the wind was blowing the gas toward the tracks. When they read the gas level at the railroad track they decided it was a hazardous situation.

They decided to close Hanley Road and stop rail traffic.

The Maplewood and Webster Groves fire departments stood by with hoses – three firefighters aiming a hose at the work area – as Laclede Gas crews worked at repairing the breaks.

The breaks were repaired by 3:30 that afternoon. Traffic was flowing on Hanley not long after that.

"I would think they would have to know, it was a fairly strong leak," Merrell said, about when and how an equipment operator broke the line.

"We haven't make contact with the contractors," he said. "We're not even sure which contractor it was. We don't know if it was someone that was working on the redevelopment, or if it was a utility company."

Tommy Bahn, owner of , wasn't happy to lose the gas service or the lunch crowd, which couldn't get to the restaurant. He blamed an aging infrastructure. He said the restaurant lost business another time not long ago when a water main broke near the same spot.