Water main break shuts off service, closes streets, leaves mess in Manitou Springs

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Public Works crews spent most of late Monday night and all day Tuesday repairing a broken water main and cleaning up the mess it caused.

The break was reported around 11:30 p.m. Monday at the west end of Midland Avenue, a narrow, dead-end road through a residential area. It released a large amount of water down a ledge, through some residential yards and onto the bottom of Ruxton Avenue.

Ruxton sustained some damage from flooding and debris, but most of it flowed onto the street and sidewalks and stayed out of businesses and homes.

The break forced the shut-off of water service to area customers, and some adjacent streets were closed but reopened Tuesday morning.

Nancy Fortuin, mayor pro tem of Manitou Springs, said the sub-freezing weather was a factor in the break.

"The freezing of the ground causes extra tension on the line," she said. "We saw a huge temperature change in the past few days."

Fortuin said the line was from 8 to 10 inches in diameter.

"It was a long day for our crews," she said. "They were plowing snow all day, and then had to respond to the water main. Kudos to them for the work they did."

The heavy flow from the broken main caused anxiety for some residents downhill.

"I was sleeping, my dog woke me up and I heard this crazy roar out here," said Michael Taylor. "I looked out here and thought it was a rainstorm but there was no rain."

The rain washed out the driveway that Taylor shares with other neighbors.

"I kept hearing what I thought was snowplows, and I realized they weren't snowplowing nine times in a row," said Jon Murray." So I came out to see what was going on. "It looked like a stream bed in the street."

Workers finished repairing the water main by 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.