Some residents in High St, Dunedin, were without water for several hours yesterday as city council staff moved a water main to make way for a telecommunications pit for ultrafast broadband (UFB).
Dunedin City Council network operations manager Mike Ind said having to move the water main was an inconvenience for the council and homeowners, especially as the pipe had been replaced only about four years ago.
In streets such as High St, infrastructure density was so high there was barely room for UFB gear.
The council had not yet had to move any other underground water infrastructure for the UFB installation, and Mr Ind did not know if it would have to move any other pipes. The cost of pipe shifting was being covered by Chorus, the company installing the fibre network.
