Filling the Cracks

Looks like the aqueduct leaks will be the target of some experimentation:

Leaks from the 85-mile Delaware Aqueduct that carries drinking water from upstate New York to New York City are the target of a project testing a new way to seal cracks in the tunnel.

The city’s Department of Environmental Protection said last week the year-long, $4 million pilot project that just started will look at using lime and other chemicals poured into water flowing through concrete pipes to seal hairline cracks. It’s technology developed in a lab at Syracuse University and will be tested in a simulation at the Rondout Reservoir in Ulster County.

If successful, the technique could be used to help patch the Delaware Aqueduct, which was built between 1937 and 1944.

Leaks from the aqueduct have resulted in damage to homes in Wawarsing.

The Freeman article talks a lot about the home buyout for area residents effected, but it doesn't mention anything as to why the NYCDEP wouldn't simply caulk the cracks. If this is a new technique, why not explain to your readers why it's potentially a better way of effecting the repairs? Or, more cynically, are we bumpkins once again the guinea pigs for an unproven process? A follow-up story would be helpful, guys.