By Margaret Harding

Published: Friday, January 4, 2013, 11:44 a.m.
Updated: Saturday, January 5, 2013

Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority crews expect to begin repairs on Saturday morning on two streets that were damaged by a water main break, snarling Downtown traffic for two days.

The break closed Fort Pitt Boulevard between Smithfield and Wood streets on Thursday morning. Wood Street was closed at First Avenue, and commuters could not use the Mon Wharf.

“The PWSA contractor will work through the night until water main repairs are completed,” said Tom Palmosina, director of water operations, on Friday.

Authorities discovered an 8- to 10-foot split in the 12-inch main line about 4:30 a.m. Thursday. Water poured onto the low-lying portion of the Parkway East known as “the bathtub,” between Grant Street and the Fort Pitt Bridge, for more than two hours during icy weather, closing one lane and causing traffic delays.

Some water seeped into nearby buildings, briefly trapping a woman in an elevator.

The water main is in a trench alongside a 20-inch gas line, so it required extensive hand-digging to repair, said water authority spokeswoman Melissa Rubin.

Equitable Gas workers had to make repairs to the gas line, Rubin said.

Margaret Harding is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-380-8519 or mharding@tribweb.com.

1. Pirates notebook: Botched popup shocks Martin
2. Penguins notebook: Spezza will return for Senators in Game 3
3. Brown’s ‘Inferno’ puts Langdon through his paces
4. Monessen revival boils down to money that could be difficult to secure
5. Local 'drummer boys' plan march from Pittsburgh to Gettysburg
6. Southmoreland seniors earn spots  on All-State Band
7. Earnhardt has special memories at Charlotte Motor Speedway
8. Pontiff dips into politics
9. Tehnology provides enhancement to home security systems
10. Winter bee deaths devastate keepers
11. ‘The Deans’ of Charleston, S.C., are partiers of the funnest order  

There are currently no comments for this story.
Subscribe today! Click here for our subscription offers.