The City of Murfreesboro announced the closure of the Gateway Trail south of the Gateway Reception Center between Murfreesboro Medical Center and the Gateway Reception Center.  The trail is anticipated to remain closed the rest of the week.  All other greenway trails are open to the public.

The reason for this closure is an eight-foot wide, four-foot deep opening adjacent to the trail that appeared sometime late Sunday. The opening appears to be a result of erosion caused by a leak in the 24-inch recirculation line that runs directly underneath the opening. 

On Saturday April 6th, following repairs made to the Gateway pond, the repurified water was turned back on to fill the upper level of the Gateway pond.  Late Sunday April 7th, the opening appeared. 

Observation of the area shows very wet soils and the City Engineering Department is currently investigating the void to try and find the pipe leak.  The recirculation water line is up to 22-feet deep underground. The Engineering Department will oversee efforts to find the pipe leak beginning Tuesday morning. 

Once the opening is evaluated, a determination on the needed repairs will be made at that time. 

City Environmental Engineer Sam Huddleston stated, “The City of Murfreesboro has over a thousand miles of water, sewer and storm drainage pipes, which can settle and leak over time and require repair.  The City has experience with this type of repair”.

According to the City Engineer, Chris Griffith, while a small portion of the trail has been compromised, the remainder of the Gateway Trail is stable.  Mr. Griffith stated, “Out of an abundance of caution, the City decided to close this section during the repair stage.  Currently, we are looking at two possibilities for why this opening occurred: either the backfill on top of the recirculation pipe has developed a void from when the pipe was installed years ago, causing the opening to develop; or, the pipe is leaking, which with enough water pressure, can cause massive erosion.”

A similar repair was made on April 3rd, due to a similar pipe failure. The water leaking from the pipe failure caused the first cavity to develop. 

In response to the pipe failure, the City will be conducting a video and/or direct inspection of the pipe to determine if there are other problems present.  This work is scheduled to be completed this week.

Mr. Griffith says he hopes to have the exact problem identified on Tuesday, with plans to immediately begin repairs to fix the opening and reopen the trail to the public.  More information will be released once available.