Water main break forces authorities to close intersection near the TCU area
A water main break Friday afternoon has forced the closing of University and Park Hill drives in all directions near the TCU area, fire officials said.
Additional police officers were requested in closing down the intersection, said fire department spokesman Mike Drivdahl said in a telephone interview.
The burst in the water main fractured the street, causing parts of it to buckle as water poured out.
Drivdahl said officials were not too concerned about flooding as long as the water drains properly through storm drains.
Willie Lott, who lives in the 2500 block of Rogers Avenue, tried washing dishes Friday afternoon, but couldn’t.
“A guy from the water department came and told me there was a main break,” Lott said. “He said, ‘Yeah, it’s a gusher’.”
Mary Gugliuzza, a spokeswoman for the Fort Worth Water Department, said nearby residents and businesses should already have regular water pressure back and, as far as the department could tell, no residents would be completely without water.
The break was reported just before 1 p.m. Drivdahl said the original call was about the street buckling, with no mention of water pouring out of the cracks.
Officials did not have estimates yet on how many homes and businesses will be without water or for how long.
Water department crews will have to shut off the water before damage to the road can be assessed, officials said.
Authorities also did not know how long the intersection would be closed. Gugliuzza said to expect closures at least through this weekend, but it could take longer to repair the water main then the road.
“We’ll have to wait on materials to settle and everything, so we don’t really know how long it will take,” she said.
Staff writer Domingo Ramirez Jr. contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 9, 2019 at 1:45 PM with the headline "Water main break forces authorities to close intersection near the TCU area."
