Previously: Water Finally Shut Off After “Geyser” Of A Main Break Floods SoMa
4:40 PM: Repairs to a water main in San Francisco that broke, blasting water onto city streets and creating a sinkhole Saturday night, have been completed and water service is restored to all residents, a public utilities spokesman said.
The water main break was reported at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at 10th and Division streets in the city’s South of Market neighborhood, and shut off water service to residents in the immediate vicinity until about 3:30 p.m. today, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission spokesman Tony Winnicker said.
It took all night and most of the day to remove debris from where the water main break occurred before crews were able to replace the water main, he said.
The pipe that broke was about 100 years old, according to Winnicker, and he said the pipe’s age combined with the cold weather likely caused it to break.
“The oldest pipes are pretty vulnerable when it gets cold,” Winnicker said. “The broken section will be investigated, but at this point we are attributing it to age and recent cold weather.”
A sinkhole that spread to about 20 feet by 15 feet on Division Street in the area has prompted the closure of westbound Division Street through the night, according to Winnicker.
Crews need to fill the sinkhole then plate it, and officials are hoping to reopen that lane by the Monday evening commute, he said.
Four intersections in the area that had been previously closed have since reopened, according to Winnicker.
All photos: Matt Ghali for the Appeal
9:39 AM: Four intersections that were closed Saturday night in San Francisco due to a water main break remain closed this morning, and there is no estimated time when they will reopen, according to a public utilities spokesman.
Potrero Avenue and Division Street, Division Street and San Bruno Avenue, Ninth and Brannan streets, and Bryant and 10th streets will be closed indefinitely while crews work to remove water from the area and repair a sinkhole caused by the flooding, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission spokesman Tyrone Jue said.
The water main break, reported at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the city’s South of Market neighborhood, created a sinkhole on Division Street at 10th Street.
It’s still unknown what caused the water main break, how much water discharged from the 16-inch water main and when the sinkhole will be repaired, according to Jue.
“Crews have been working around the clock since we found out about the break,” he said.
The San Francisco Fire Department has helped pump out water from flooded buildings, including a business nearby that “flooded out,” Jue said.
Residents within a block of the water main break have reported not having water, but no one else appears to be affected, according to Jue.
