PORT TOWNSEND — City officials hope to have repairs on a broken sewage line under Water Street near Sims Way in Port Townsend completed by this morning, but the street will likely remain closed until repairs to the street surface are completed.
At about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, city crews saw water coming up through one of the maintenance holes on Water Street, Public Works Director Steve King said. By 1 p.m., they had been able to install pumps and bypass the break before the sewage overflow was able to leak into the bay.
The break, located on a small section of Water Street near Gaines Street and Sims Way, was under repair by private contractor Seton Construction on Wednesday. Crews were to fix roughly 120 feet of pipe, King said.
Repairs to the broken section of pipe are expected to be completed Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning at the latest, King said.
But the street itself will need resurfacing and will remain mostly closed until that happens, King said.
“We probably have a week or two of activity down there,” King said. “We have to remove quite a bit of asphalt, and scheduling paving this time of year can be challenging.”
King said the cause of the break wasn’t yet known, but crews had dug up a considerable amount of gravel, asphalt and rock, which was likely pushed into the drainage system by the king tide flooding that occurred in the area the day before.
“We’re in the early excavation stage,” King said. “If there is a direct relationship with the tide, there’s a potential for problems in other parts of town.”
The city said in a press release issued Wednesday the section of Water Street and a portion of Gaines Street would remain closed until staff have assessed the damage.
“Staff suspects the pavement has been undermined extensively and one sinkhole has already formed,” the release said.
“Construction activity will also require closure of the road for safety of the traveling public and workers.”
Adjacent businesses will have access throughout the work period, the city said, and sidewalks on the east side of Gaines Street and the north side of Water Street will remain open.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
