Nautical College Flooded

A burst water main in Crown Street, Gorbals, flooded the nearby Glasgow College of Nautical Studies (GCNS) in Thistle Street and left it closed for six days.

The burst was caused by contractors on a site opposite the college shortly after 9am.  When Strathclyde Fire & Rescue arrived they had to rescue a man who had become trapped in his car.

They then tackled the college which was severely flooded. Water had entered the plant room which holds the water treatment chemicals for the swimming pool.

The whole ground floor and basement of the building was affected and included the gymnasium and the lifts.

It took several days to pump out the flood water and to repair and test the electrical equipment that has been damaged

The Thistle Street campus has 8,000 students with 250 staying in its Hall of Residence. Fortunately the student halls were not flooded and did not have to be evacuated.

As Richard Speight, Acting Principle at the Nautical College said: ‘This has been very distressing and a great inconvenience both for the staff and hundreds of students. We may have to move some classes to other colleges on a temporary basis and some will be cancelled until we get things back to normal. This is the first time this has happened at the college.’

At the height of the flood, Adelphi Street and Albert Bridge were closed.

Water supplies were affected in Gorbals, Rutherglen, Oatlands, Carntyne, Dennistoun, Royston, Port Dundas, Firhill, Possilpark and Springburn. But by 5pm the water supplies had been restored.

Jim Hassan, Regional Manager for Scottish Water said: ‘Our engineers isolated the burst on a 24 inch main which happened when external contractors were working in Crown Street. This work was not being done for Scottish Water. The engineers were on site immediately to shut off the affected pipeline and redistribute the network.’

The total cost of the clean up operation and who will pay for it, is still being investigated.