Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

Broken water main blocks Columbia traffic

A broken water main on Forest Drive diverted traffic all Sunday morning, a situation expected to continue at least until early Monday.

City officials asked all who live in the area to boil tap water.

About 20 workers from city crews were on the scene, working to repair the damage in an old broken 18-inch water main.

There’s no evidence that anything broke the main. “It could have just been old age,” said city utilities director John Dooley, who was on the scene.

Dozens of firefighters and fire trucks, along with tankers, were on the scene in the morning. One of their jobs was to make sure that Providence Hospital had enough water pressure to serve its sprin-kler system.

The properties most affected, about 50 to 100 homes and businesses on Forest Drive, had their water cut off Sunday morning. Most of the businesses were closed for Sunday.

The 2500 block of Forest Drive, just east of Providence Hospital, is closed until further notice, Pinehurst and Manning streets are being used to divert traffic off of Forest Drive, said city spokesman Brick Lewis.

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