Motorists in Peachtree City endured a major traffic bottleneck nearly all day Monday while crews repaired a damaged utility line that caused a natural gas leak.

Ga. Highway 74 was closed between Paschal Road and Ga. Highway 54 from about 11 a.m. Monday until just after midnight, according to acting fire chief Stony Lohr.

The problem was caused by a gas line that was installed beneath Hwy. 74 many years ago and “punched right through the sewer line,” Lohr said.

Over the years, as the sewer line has seen an increase in volume, debris has caused a hole to be formed in the gas line, allowing gas to leak into the sewer main.

A number of complaints have been received over the past few months concerning an odor in the area near the U.S. Post Office and Schlotsky's Deli, Lohr said, but the odor would come and go and was difficult to pinpoint.

Finally, some Peachtree City Water and Sewerage Authority employees Monday morning looking for the source of the odor pulled up a manhole cover and detected what they believed was a high concentration of natural gas. The Fire Department responded, and Atlanta Gas Light company also was called in.

WASA uses a gas monitor to check out areas for safety purposes before actually putting people down manholes, according to general manager Larry Turner. This time it showed a combustible gas mixture — “it went off the scale,” Turner said.

Sewage can generate hydrogen sulfide and methane when it goes septic, Turner added. In this instance, an absence of hydrogen sulfide readings on the monitor indicated that the culprit was a gas leak.

After the road was blocked, manholes were systematically checked out until a worker just south of Villa Point climbed down under the highway and could hear the leak.

One of WASA's newest high-tech gadgets went about 55 feet into the sewer line, using a remote-controlled television camera, and located the actual spot of the damage. “You could see the pipe cutting through the gas line,” said Lohr.

The feed line into the neighboring residential area was turned off, and gas company workers started digging up the highway to fix the leak. Once the valve was turned off, Lohr said, any potential danger from the leak was gone.

One northbound lane was reopened at about 6 p.m. Monday, while southbound drivers continued to detour along Clover Reach and other side streets for a block or two.

The hole has been filled and covered so that the highway can remain open until it can be repaved in the next few weeks.

“There were no injuries, and no property damage,” said Lohr. “Just a big nuisance.”

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