Officials from NIU’s Grounds Department and West Heating Plant were out in full force Monday morning to repair a leaking natural-gas line located just north of the heating plant.

The leak on the low-pressure line, which serves Grant and Stevenson towers, was first noticed late Wednesday or early Thursday. Officials later determined it was safe to allow service to continue but blocked off the roads in the area for much of the weekend to prevent students and vehicles from entering.

“The process went very smooth,” said Michael Saari, associate director of the physical plant. “There was only a small interruption in service.”

Saari said the process took about three hours from start to finish and credited much of the operation’s success to the specialized contractor hired to perform the work.

The whole thing was done before noon, Saari said.

The process of repairing the line involved looking into possible rerouting of service, Saari said. From there, the team looked at the surrounding utilities underground using detailed drawings, located the line’s shut-off points and began excavation.

When the team reached the depth of the line, it hand-dug around the area of the pipe to avoid further damage. The contractor then used special equipment for working with natural gas to repair the line.

Overall, Saari said, leaking gas lines are a rare occurrence.

The leak may have started because gas mains left underground for long periods of time can develop small holes, allowing the gas to permeate through the ground, Saari said.

Saari estimated the operation’s cost was around $5,000 and acknowledged there were budgets appropriated for making these types of repairs and maintaining service.

Operations on the Huskie Bus Line also returned to normal following the completion of the repairs Monday afternoon. Barricading the roads caused the No. 4 route, which includes the NIU campus Circle Left and Right buses, to be rerouted for much of the weekend. This caused confusion for students who did not know where to get on the buses.

“[The reroute] didn’t disturb us too much,” said Charles Battista, Huskie Bus Line general manager. “Everything’s back to normal now.”

Battista acknowledged there were initially a number of concerns from students who were confused by the situation but added that people caught on quickly.