Rick Litalien, right, of Lewiston Public Works, helps to repair damage to Ashmount Street in Lewiston on Friday morning after a water main break Thursday evening. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
LEWISTON — A water main break that city workers believed to be located beneath Ashmount Street on Thursday evening turned out to be under an adjacent street, a city official said Friday.
The break sent muddy water gushing across the intersection of Ashmount Street and Treemount Drive and bursting through a snowbank at about 5 p.m. Thursday, disrupting water service throughout the neighborhood and flooding basements. Hours later, crews realized the break was actually under Treemount Drive, not Ashmount Street, Public Works Director Dale Doughty said.
The roughly 5-foot crack that appeared in an 8-inch pipe was discovered by work crews early Friday morning after hours of investigation, he said. Water service was restored on Ashmount Street later Thursday night.
Shortly after dawn Friday, workers cut out the broken section of pipe under Treemount Drive and replaced it, Doughty said.
That line had to be flushed of any contaminates and service was restored midmorning Friday after testing, he said.
Later in the morning, excavation crews worked to restore the street services that had been dug up.
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