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Tag: gas line

  • Major Lake Norman road closed for hours after gas line break prompts evacuations

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    Construction barrels line N.C. 150 from U.S. 21 to Talbert Road in Mooresville NC on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, for the long-awaited expansion of the highway to six lanes. A gas line rupture along this stretch prompted evacuations and the closing of the road on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.

    Construction barrels line N.C. 150 from U.S. 21 to Talbert Road in Mooresville NC on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, for the long-awaited expansion of the highway to six lanes. A gas line rupture along this stretch prompted evacuations and the closing of the road on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.


    JOE MARUSAK

    jmarusak@charlotteobserver.com

    Crews expanding a major Lake Norman-area highway cut a gas line Friday, prompting evacuations and closing the busy road for hours, witnesses and town officials said.

    The line ruptured on West Plaza Drive (N.C. 150) in Mooresville, near the Randy Marion auto dealership, town officials said on social media.

    Fumes shot skyward, along with red clay dirt caught in the spewing gas, Charlotte Observer news parter WSOC reported.

    Dirt blanketed the dealership’s sign and outdoor vehicles, according to the station.

    “We heard the sound, and at first I was like, that’s a pretty loud sound,” Corky Trutza, manager of the nearby Mooresville Golf Range, told WSOC. “Next thing I know, fire guys are knocking on the door.”

    On the town’s Facebook page, a witness said he was 200 feet from the gas line when a back hoe operator ruptured the line.

    “It was pretty crazy,” the man said. “Dirt and natural gas shooting about 60 feet in the air.”

    No injuries were reported.

    Highway widening project

    Crews are expanding the highway to three lanes in each direction as part of the $249 million widening of N.C. 150 in Iredell and Catawba counties.

    The project will include a massive new 10-lane bridge over the highway at Interstate 77 exit 36.

    In the first phase of the bridge work, crews will build additional eastbound lanes on N.C. 150, according to NCDOT. The second phase will add westbound lanes, officials said.

    “The final phase will complete the transition to a 160-foot-wide structure featuring ten travel lanes, tying in the bridge to the existing roadway, and removing the existing bridge,” according to the NCDOT statement.

    Between U.S. 21 and I-77 exit 36 in Mooresville, crews are installing storm drains, hauling and grading dirt, moving water meters and building small retaining walls, according to an update by the town on Friday.

    Major fill work is underway near Chick-fil-A, and a temporary traffic signal is being installed, town officials said. Wall construction has started, beginning at the exit 36 bridge.

    15-mile, five-year highway expansion

    The overall, 15-mile N.C. 150 widening project is needed to ease decades-old congestion and handle future crowding, officials said. Charlotte-based contractor Blythe Development LLC heads the work.

    Construction began this year and is expected to finish in 2030.

    .

    Related Stories from Charlotte Observer

    Joe Marusak

    The Charlotte Observer

    Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news.
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    Joe Marusak

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  • Ohio explosion caused by cut gas line thought to be turned off, investigators say

    Ohio explosion caused by cut gas line thought to be turned off, investigators say

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    A crew working in the basement area of an Ohio building intentionally cut a gas line not knowing it was pressurized before a deadly explosion this week, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday.NTSB board member Tom Chapman said preliminary investigation shows workers were in the basement to clear out piping and other outdated infrastructure and debris from the basement and vault area — which extends underneath the sidewalk next to the building — in anticipation of a city project to fill in the area and replace the sidewalks. A crew of five people and a supervisor had been on site that day and four of the workers were there when it happened, he said.“It was an apparently abandoned service line coming off the main, which ran parallel to the street,” Chapman said.He said workers smelled no gas before they started cutting the pipe and knew there was a problem when they made the third cut.At that point, workers pulled the fire alarm and alerted residents and bank employees to evacuate. Chapman said the explosion happened six minutes later. He also said all indications are that it was accidental.Investigators will try to determine why the pipe was pressurized and how long it had been that way.Chapman said the investigation would continue without access to the inside of the building until engineers can determine if the building is safe to enter. He said the NTSB has gotten security video from inside the bank and other video evidence.The explosion Tuesday afternoon blew out much of the ground floor of Realty Tower, killing a bank employee and injuring several others. It collapsed part of the ground floor into its basement and sent the façade across the street. Bricks, glass and other debris littered the sidewalk outside the 13-story building, which had a Chase Bank branch at street level and apartments in upper floors.Investigators are also trying to discern whether people in the bank heard the fire alarm.Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said in a news release Friday that the city had contracted with a construction company called GreenHeart to perform private utility relocation in the basement of the Realty Tower. He said “there is no evidence” that cutting the gas line the NTSB mentioned was necessary to complete that work.Greenheart did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.The bank employee, 27-year-old Akil Drake, had been seen inside the building just before the blast, police have said. Firefighters rescued others as they cleared the building.Seven injured people were taken to a Youngstown hospital. One woman remained hospitalized as of Thursday in critical condition, but her name and further details on her injuries have not been disclosed. Three others were in stable condition, and the other three were released.

    YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio —

    A crew working in the basement area of an Ohio building intentionally cut a gas line not knowing it was pressurized before a deadly explosion this week, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday.

    NTSB board member Tom Chapman said preliminary investigation shows workers were in the basement to clear out piping and other outdated infrastructure and debris from the basement and vault area — which extends underneath the sidewalk next to the building — in anticipation of a city project to fill in the area and replace the sidewalks. A crew of five people and a supervisor had been on site that day and four of the workers were there when it happened, he said.

    “It was an apparently abandoned service line coming off the main, which ran parallel to the street,” Chapman said.

    He said workers smelled no gas before they started cutting the pipe and knew there was a problem when they made the third cut.

    At that point, workers pulled the fire alarm and alerted residents and bank employees to evacuate. Chapman said the explosion happened six minutes later. He also said all indications are that it was accidental.

    Investigators will try to determine why the pipe was pressurized and how long it had been that way.

    Chapman said the investigation would continue without access to the inside of the building until engineers can determine if the building is safe to enter. He said the NTSB has gotten security video from inside the bank and other video evidence.

    The explosion Tuesday afternoon blew out much of the ground floor of Realty Tower, killing a bank employee and injuring several others. It collapsed part of the ground floor into its basement and sent the façade across the street. Bricks, glass and other debris littered the sidewalk outside the 13-story building, which had a Chase Bank branch at street level and apartments in upper floors.

    Investigators are also trying to discern whether people in the bank heard the fire alarm.

    Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said in a news release Friday that the city had contracted with a construction company called GreenHeart to perform private utility relocation in the basement of the Realty Tower. He said “there is no evidence” that cutting the gas line the NTSB mentioned was necessary to complete that work.

    Greenheart did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.

    The bank employee, 27-year-old Akil Drake, had been seen inside the building just before the blast, police have said. Firefighters rescued others as they cleared the building.

    Seven injured people were taken to a Youngstown hospital. One woman remained hospitalized as of Thursday in critical condition, but her name and further details on her injuries have not been disclosed. Three others were in stable condition, and the other three were released.

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