PORT ANGELES — A broken water main turned Liberty Street into a small river in residential Port Angeles before dusk Thursday.
Water rushed out from a driveway just north of Sixth Street and spilled onto side streets and into alleys as it cascaded down Liberty.
Port Angeles police closed Liberty Street to southbound traffic between Fifth and Sixth streets shortly after the report of the 6-inch water main rupture at 4:52 p.m.
Port Angeles Deputy Chief of Police Brian Smith said the affected portion of the roadway was damaged and looked “hollow.”
“The road’s pretty fragile there,” Smith said.
Port Angeles public works officials later barricaded Liberty Street from Fifth to Sixth streets and from Sixth to Seventh streets.
Dennis Edgington, lead city worker at the site, said 10 customers were without water as the repairs were being made at about 8:30 p.m.
He said the crew would likely finish the work, which included digging a large hole and replacing the damaged main, by 11 p.m.
Other crew members said the water main, which is 4 ½ feet underground, had a 2-foot hole. It was cracked lengthwise as much as 5 feet.
The rupture damaged the west shoulder of Liberty Street near its intersection with Sixth Street.
Mud and silt from the current was reported as far downslope as Fourth and Jones streets.
Edgington said the water main was probably installed in the 1970s. He said the rupture was likely caused by a pressure surge.
Glenn Cutler, Port Angeles city public works and utilities director, was not available for comment.