The massive pipe to replace the broken 30-inch water main in Northeast Portland arrived in the neighborhood Sunday afternoon.
The Saturday morning rupture of the 100-plus-year cast iron pipe was the largest in recent memory, the Portland Water Bureau said. Millions of gallons of water poured through the area, damaging homes and businesses, and forcing the power to be shut down for the safety of repair crews.
Repair work is expected to take days. All of the broken pipe will have to be dug out of the ground, and the walls of the dig site will need to be reinforced to prevent collapse. The replacement section will then to be lowered and welded into place. The pit will then have to be filled, and the street repaved.
The bureau says this winter's series of freezes, thaws and refreezes may have contributed to the rupture, which rarely happens in such a large pipe.
The break happened around noon on March 16 at Northeast 23rd Avenue and Northeast Skidmore Street, causing water to spurt out at 1 million gallons per minute. Officials were able to finally slow the flow that evening.
Neighbors Cheryl and Peter Alto said they heard a "pop" and within about 20 minutes, the water was at their steps and rushing into a neighbor's garage.
"Came out and it was just very surreal, a reflection of all the water and it just happened very quickly," Cheryl said.
Twelves homes were evacuated and residents watched helplessly as water poured into homes and surrounded cars.
"This is wild," neighbor Michael Vitti said. "I've never seen anything like it before that's a lot of water coming out of there."
Marnie Freeman thought someone hit a fire hydrant at first but soon realized it was much bigger.
"It reminds me of when we had that fire in the Gorge," she said. "It gives me that same sensation. And I can't help to think of that sinkhole that is forming that's what I'm most nervous about."
Officials warned people to stay out of the water because it could weaken surfaces or hide open manhole covers.
"We've asked people to stay away from the water," Lt. Rich Chatman with Portland Fire and Rescue said. "It really is our primary message to stay nowhere near the water. We have a lot of hazards involved. We've got open manhole covers and we aren't sure of the stability of the ground in a lot of these areas."
The water bureau said that when a main that size fails, customers might see dirty or brown water coming out of faucets. That's because sediment is being stirrup up in the system. There is no health hazard from the water, but people in the neighborhood are still being advised not to touch the standing water.
"Sediment is always in our system but is only visible when a change in flow is enough to disturb the sediment. Customers may choose to drink bottled water while waiting for discoloration to clear," the bureau tweeted. They added that a water main break of this magnitude is a very rare event.
About 10,000 Pacific Power customers living in and around the area of the water main break lost power around 11:15 a.m. The utility said it "de-energized power lines in the area" at the request of PF&R as crews worked to fix the pipe. Most power was restored by the next morning.
"We want to thank customers for their patience in this unusual situation as we work with the city," said David Lucas, Pacific Power vice president of operations, in a press release. "Safety has to come first. Flooding basements, many of which contain circuit breakers, is a major risk. We urge everyone to be cautious and we will return service as soon as we safely can."
