On Sunday, Sept. 11, at approximately 7:20 a.m., Xavier University campus experienced its first unplanned power outage since May of 2010.
The power outage occurred when Cincinnati Water Works accidentally struck a high voltage power cable with a track hoe during its construction at the intersection of Dana Avenue and Ledgewood Drive, blowing the circuit breaker of a Duke Energy power line.
The accident shut off all power on campus, including in dormitories, faculty and staff offices, classrooms and the dining hall. Residents on Dana Avenue between Montgomery Road and Victory Parkway likewise lost power.
Power was restored right before 9 a.m. as Duke was able to switch the damaged cable with another set of cables to re-feed the University rather promptly.
“Duke assured us relatively quickly that the power would be back within the hour, and fortunately it was,” Mark Hanlon, assistant director for the Xavier Physical Plant, said.
Cincinnati Water Works had been working all weekend replacing underground water pipes for the Dana Avenue Widening Project, closing various intersections along the route. Due to the power outage, the project was set back a day, and the closure of the Dana Avenue and Ledgewood Drive intersection was extended until Monday, when Duke repaired the damaged cable.
Xavier officials decided to alert the Xavier community of the outage through the use of the XU AlertMe system.
“Everything—the chapel, the food, the offices—runs on electric,” Hanlon said. “But because of the [early morning] timing, it was only a slight inconvenience to the University.”
When power was restored, students received an “all clear” notification from the XU AlertMe system, assuring them that activities planned for the day, such as the Spirit Celebration, would go on as planned.