Bristol County water washing across the bike path

Posted 6/25/19

For the past couple of months, bikers, walkers, joggers and anyone traveling along the East Bay Bike Path in East Providence has passed through a steady stream of water washing across the paved path, …

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Bristol County water washing across the bike path

Posted

For the past couple of months, bikers, walkers, joggers and anyone traveling along the East Bay Bike Path in East Providence has passed through a steady stream of water washing across the paved path, from east to west. For anyone who wondered the source, the Bristol County Water Authority confirmed recently that it’s their water — from the pipeline leaking deep under the Providence River.

While the water authority is working to develop a permanent fix for the ailing pipeline, some 430,000 gallons per day are spilling out of the pipe and looking for a place to go. Much of the water is rushing up the trench where the pipeline rests and bubbling out where the pipeline emerges in East Providence, inside the Silver Spring golf course.

In a spot near the fifth hole of the course, a piece of plywood with two orange traffic cones covers a steady stream of water. The stream works its way through the woods, over a 50-foot cliff and fills an area adjacent to the bike path, creating a pond a few hundred feet long and about 30 feet wide, before its overflow crosses the bike path and goes into the Providence River just north of the Exxon-Mobil pier.

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