A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT

At Waterbury's historic Palace Theater, the show must go on even if that means shifting the path of the Great Brook, an underground river that had flowed quietly beneath the structure and much of the city's center since the theater was built in 1922.

The brook's original course was contained by a 12-ft by 6-ft culvert underneath the theater, passing through the center of the proscenium and exiting at the south wall of the stage house. Its presence was inconsequential until the theater's renovation specified an elevating orchestra pit, which would require significant excavation within the brook's path. Redirecting the brook around the site of the orchestra pit was the project team's only option.

Diverting the water flow was no easy task, requiring crews to first build a temporary culvert into which the water could be channeled. Crews from Plainville, Conn.-based site development contractor Manafort Brothers Inc. saw-cut the top and sides of the existing culvert and installed two 5-ft-dia temporary pipes that ran parallel to the existing culvert for 300 ft, exiting the theater before reconnecting into the original culvert.

Once the brook was diverted to the temporary piping system, crews poured a new serpentine concrete culvert measuring 4.5 ft high by 16 ft wide. This connected to the existing culvert structure inside the theater, curving out to the west and reconnecting to the existing structure south of the Palace Theater in the southwest corner of one of the new parking garages. Once the new culvert was completed, the brook was redirected from the temporary pipes to the new structure.

Although the entire process took only a month, installation of a sophisticated emergency overflow system was crucial. Heavy rain or snow melts potentially could increase the Great Brook's flow, pushing the temporary pipes past capacity and flooding the theater's interior.

Crews installed four hydraulic pumps in the brook, designed to handle flows up to 250,000 gallons per minute, connected to temporary pipes that would carry overflow outside the theater and back into the brook.

Since the Great Brook had long been flowing tamely beneath much of Waterbury's city center, little information was known about its behavior. No one could tell us what the high level of the brook could be, so we designed [the system] to full capacity," says Mark Gionfriddo, Manafort's project manager.

Luckily, the weather cooperated and the emergency system never had to be used. Once the Great Brook was redirected, the temporary piping was removed and the orchestra floor replaced, allowing room for the new elevating orchestra pit floor and the full basement under the stage.