PLEASANT HILL, Mo. — There have been many long days and nights for public works crews out repairing water main breaks, which have been prevalent throughout the Kansas City area recently.

A big factor in those breaks is the dry weather, which shifts the earth underground, causing damage to aging pipes.

Public works crews in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, on Wednesday worked on five different water main breaks in 24 hours. Previously, the record number of water main breaks in that period of time was two.

“Well ever since Saturday, we’ve been nonstop,” said Tony Bakken, Pleasant Hill director of public works.

“I think I got maybe 3 hours of sleep last night, maybe a half an hour the night before,” Bakken said.

“The dry weather, the ground shifts and moves and the pipes break and crack,” Bakken said.

Lloyd Wussow, who lives across the street from one repair off Washington Street, said unfortunately the recurring issues make sense considering weather conditions.

“Oh my lawn, take a look. It’s pretty bad. It’s dead. I think everybody’s yard is dead because we haven’t had any rain,” Wussow said.

“It’s an issue for them, too, when they have to do it over and over again. But I think it’s going to be an issue in a lot of communities with older water pipes and infrastructure that needs to be taken care of,” Wussow said.

However, for crews on Wednesday, it was all patch jobs.

“We will repair it with a stainless steel band that we’ll wrap around it and bolt it together and that will stop the leak,” Bakken said.

“Nowadays, we’re using plastic. It’s a C-900 plastic pipe. And they do things a lot differently now with the bedding material and stuff that goes around them to help give that cushion around the pipe,” Bakken said, referencing the 80-year-old pipes they were repairing.