LEWISTON – Work replacing a broken and clogged Main Street sewer line wrapped up Friday, but a handful of workers will be back Monday.

“They have detail work to do in the manhole itself, and that should close a lane or two next week,” said Kevin Gagne, deputy director of public services Friday.

Crews from St. Laurent & Son wrapped up most of the work replacing the 170-foot-long sewer pipe on Main Street between Blake and Bates streets Friday. They repaved the stretch of Main Street with temporary concrete, and Gagne said they’ll return in the spring to remove the concrete and put down permanent asphalt pavement.

Gagne said it was a simple end to a simple story.

“It was nothing more than a collapsed line in an aging pipe,” he said.

Crews discovered the clog in January, identifying it as a white, doughy blob blocking about 50 feet of pipe. Deputy Public Services Director Kevin Gagne said the clog was largely grease, dough, old rags and mop heads.

They tried to unclog the pipe for seven days using high pressure water and metal augers and rods.

Gagne said the pipe was actually collapsed for a distance of 20 feet and was surrounded by dirt-free voids.

Those occur from water leaking from the pipes and washing away dirt. The old pipe was 12-inch, unreinforced concrete.

The work has cost $51,000, Gagne said, with the city paying an additional $12,600 to have St. Laurent & Son do the final paving next spring.