Portage and Main drying out after water-main break

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/04/2017 (2556 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A water-main break which left Portage and Main closed for a few hours was being fixed later on Thursday.

Tim Shanks, the city’s water services manager, said a 109-year-old pipe, about 12 inches in width, sprung an underground leak at about 9 a.m. Thursday.

The section of pipe had no direct customer connections so crews were able to shut it down quickly, he said.

As of 1:30 p.m., no customers downtown are without water, but one business in the Concourse reported water damage, Shanks said.

Lee Kyungho, owner of the Eshel Tree store in the Concourse, said the first he knew water was coming down from the ceiling just outside his business was when a passing customer notified him just before 9 a.m.

“I moved the (greeting) cards (display),” Kyungho said.

“They are expensive so I moved them first. Then I called the city. I did not hear it. I couldn’t see the water from where I was.”

Clean-up crews were in the Concourse mopping up while the escalator near the Scotia Bank on the southwest corner was shut off.

The pipe is not currently scheduled to be replaced, Shanks said, noting the water may be “discoloured” for awhile, but it is not unsafe.

“We don’t have health concerns. It will eventually settle out,” he said.

The flood forced the closure of the southbound lanes on Main Street at Portage Avenue for about two hours. Most lanes of traffic have reopened but one southbound lane is closed so Manitoba Hydro crews can determine if there are any electrical issues.

Assistant deputy fire and paramedic chief Jay Shaw said nobody was evacuated from any office buildings at Portage and Main.

“We did a risk assessment and decided there was no need to evacuate,” Shaw said.

“My job was to make sure none of the fire suppression systems were affected and that everyone was safe.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Flooding at Portage and Main @CBCManitoba @CTVWinnipeg @globalwinnipeg @WinnipegNews pic.twitter.com/AbiUKfKFdo

— Ellen Goodman (@Ellylou1) April 20, 2017