Water Main Break Closes Main Street Lanes

The Southbound lanes of Main Street between Grand and Liberty Streets will be closed most of Monday as crews work to repair a water main break that occured in front of the Buttonwood Tree.

The break, which was reported at midnight, appears to be a major break in the century-old main (the original pipes were installed in 1893). Crews are hoping for a clean break, which can be repaired with a "band-aid," a sleeve slipped over the break, but because of the damage done to the street and subsurface, they suspect a blow-out which could take up to several lengths of new pipe to repair.

Crews worked through the night in frigid temperatures excavating the area of the break only to discover that much of the road subsurface between the corner of Liberty to the area where the water gushed from the roadway, was hollowed out by the force of the water.

At seven, a large excavator arrived to begin the major work of tearing through the blacktop and uncovering the source of the problem. The break is also below a conduit which carries utilities along Main Street, which will complicate the repair.

Business on that block on the East Side of Main will be closed today because water is not available. Those businesses include the Community Health Center medical buildings (dental, on the other side of Main is not affected), the St. Vincent de Paul center and the Buttonwood Tree.

The break, one of a half-dozen main breaks this year, demonstrates the fragile nature of the old pipe running beneath city streets. Much of the main on the portion of Main South of Washington Street was replaced this Autumn.

On a slow-news Monday, the water main break drew TV crews from three local affiliates to the North End, for on-the-spot coverage. I guess it's what you call "breaking" news.