Intersection icing blamed on computer

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The metro water authority is blaming a computer glitch for the 30,000-gallon spill that turned a major intersection into a sheet of ice Wednesday morning.

Sometime between 11 p.m. and midnight Tuesday a computer that controls the filling of reservoir storage tanks crashed, according to the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority. That caused pumps to keep pumping affecting 10 sites around the city.

"When the computer does go down we still have the capability of manually controlling the pump stations on site," David Morris of the water authority told KRQE News 13. "That's what the crews were coming out to do."

The authority crews, however, were unable to prevent the overfilling at the Thomas Pump Station near the intersection of Wyoming and Montgomery boulevards in northeast Albuquerque.

In 15 minutes nearly 30,000 gallons of water poured into the streets creating an ice sheet as temperatures dropped below freezing. An Albuquerque Police Department supervisor shut down traffic around 6 a.m., and no accidents were reported.

A city truck was called out to salt and sand the intersection as police detoured traffic onto side streets. The intersection reopened to traffic just before 8 a.m.

The water authority was working through the day to fix the computer problem.

Morris said the cost for the water lost is considered to be nominal given that the reservoir contained up to six million gallons.

No homes or businesses in the area were affected by the water overflow.