By William Tauro

A team of Somerville Department of Public Works Engineers and Water

Department Personnel were working frantically on Friday trying to find a major shut off valve buried deep beneath the streets of Somerville at the intersection of Tufts and Washington Streets.

City engineers with street blueprints in hand spread across the hood of a dpw truck have their crew in search of the one hundred plus year old valve that controls the water shut off and will actually stop the water from flowing on Mansfield St.

One crew member said ” It’s like being in search of a buried treasure”, ” the pipes are over a century old and hidden under the streets!”

This particular crew have been braving the frigid single digit temperatures all morning into the early evening trying to find that valve.

They have been in four different intersections locations including Somerville Avenue at McGrath Highway, in the middle of the road lifting sewer covers while hundreds of motor vehicles and eighteen wheelers speed by and dodge around them as the continue turning shut off valves.

This particular valve once located will shut off the water supply of Mansfield Street in order for the crew to do a repair on a broken 16 inch water main that is causing all the problems.