Students expecting a normal dinner at Eickhoff Dining Hall Monday night were less than pleased when the dining hall was closed due to a water main break.
The break occurred outside the Marketplace Convenience Store and was reported just before 5 p.m. Water saturated the lawn and flowed out into the street.
Jim Heisler, the College's plumbing supervisor, said that water main breaks usually result from alternating warm and cold weather, which puts stress on the pipes.
The dining hall was closed once the leak was reported. At around 7 p.m., the water was shut off, much to the dismay of Eickhoff residents.
"I'm really (explicit) pissed off," Mike Pfirrmann, junior computer science major, said. "I was right about to get into the (explicit) shower."
Other students were also noticeably angry when they walked into Eickhoff to find that the dining hall was closed.
A sign on the door of the dining hall directed students to the Travers/Wolfe Dining Hall, which is open until midnight. The convenience store was also closed until the repairs were completed.
Workers from Waters & Bugbee, a general contracting company based in Trenton, were on hand to help seal the broken pipe. They had to dig a sizeable hole to reach the pipe. "We're going to expose the line and put a repair clamp on," Heisler said. "It should be simple."
Heisler said that the College kept the water on until workers started digging so that people in Eickhoff could still use water.
Workers continued to fix the problem throughout the night, and water was restored to most rooms in Eickhoff by around 11:30 p.m. However, there were reports of toilets overflowing once water was restored.
John Higgins, general manager of Dining Services, said that Travers/Wolfe and the Student Center Food Court could hold all the extra students who would normally have eaten at Eickhoff.
"We're handling it," Higgins said. He said that staff was moved from Eickhoff to the student center and Travers/Wolfe to handle the extra customers.
Students who went to Travers/Wolfe had to use their points to pay for food, causing an inconvenience for those with the Carte Blanche meal plan.
Higgins said that dining services would try to do something for students after spring break. He suggested an upscale meal or special dessert bar at Eickhoff.
