Though overlooked on campus tours and visits to Tiger Stadium, the University’s main sewer line has been faithfully servicing campus for more than half a century — and like most campus infrastructures throughout the years, its time for replacement has come.Emmett David, director of facility development, said more than $4 million was requested in the 2009 Regular Legislative Session, but — because of budgetary constraints  — the legislature chose not to provide funding for the multi-million dollar project, leaving the administration in fear of the line’s impending rupture.The University is hopeful to receive funding during the 2010 session, David said.”The No. 1 project for the University under emergency projects is the replacement of this 30-inch sewer line tying into the city-parish treatment system,” David said. The rupture of the line could potentially close the University for an indefinite period of time, David said.”It did not receive any funding — there are financial hardships right now,” David said. “The state addressed what they felt in their wisdom. You have to look at the entire state, not just our sewer problem. Bobby Pitre, facility services executive director, said the worst-case scenario for the line’s rupture would result in the University evacuating about 100,000 people from the campus.”The worst case would be a Saturday night during a football game,” Pitre said. “You could see them shutting down the football game and evacuating the           stadium.”While the likelihood of the line rupturing during a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium is slim, Pitre said predicting the result of a rupture is impossible — a rupture could go relatively unnoticed, or it could cause Nicholson Drive to cave.The line ruptured in 2006, and the sewage overflowed into the ditch near the railroad tracks along Nicholson Drive, Pitre said. Large vacuum trucks worked around the clock to remove the sewage.The University was not in full operation at the time of the rupture, which prevented school from being canceled, David said.”We had students living on campus; it didn’t effect them,” David said. “We just said, ‘Please minimize the use of water.'”Removing the sewage and repairing the line cost about $1 million in 2006, Pitre said. The line runs from the University’s powerhouse to the levee — down South Stadium Drive, underneath Nicholson Drive and underneath the parking lot for the old Alex Box Baseball Stadium. Its route ends when it ties into the city-parish system.The concrete line’s location near the Misssissippi River has not helped to circumvent damages, Pitre said. With the rise and fall of the water level in the river, the line expands and contracts, causing it to weaken. “It could rupture again,” Pitre said. “It’s going to happen again — it’s just lived out its life. It’s old.”If and when the line ruptures, David said the Emergency Operations Center would be responsible for University closures. D’Ann Morris, EOC interim director, was unavailable for comment.—-Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]