8:32 PM: Repairs to a 100-year-old water line that broke this morning have been completed and San Francisco’s Stockton Tunnel has reopened, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission officials said tonight.
The break was reported just before noon in a 4-inch cast-iron water main near Stockton and Sutter streets, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission spokeswoman Suzanne Gautier said.
The repairs kept the tunnel closed until around 8 p.m. this evening, officials said.
No water service in the area was interrupted, Gautier said.
The 30-Stockton and 45-Union bus lines were rerouted around the closed tunnel during repairs, Muni spokesman Paul Rose said.
Gautier said the break was due to the old age of the pipe, which dates to 1914, and not connected with construction on Muni’s Central Subway project.
A boring machine is operating about 100 feet north of where the leak occurred. The machine is being used underground to carve out a tunnel for the new subway line that will eventually connect passengers from the San Francisco Caltrain Station to Chinatown, according to Rose.
2 PM: San Francisco’s Stockton Tunnel is closed this afternoon because of a water main break on the side of the tunnel closer to Union Square, a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokeswoman said.
A leak was reported just before noon on a 4-inch main near Stockton and Sutter streets, SFPUC spokeswoman Suzanne Gautier said.
Buses were the only vehicles allowed through the tunnel for a short period as water bubbled onto the street, she said.
Around 1:30 p.m., crews were making repairs to the line and the tunnel had been shut down to all vehicles, SFMTA spokesman Paul Rose said.
The 30-Stockton and 45-Union bus lines are rerouting around the tunnel, he said.
There may be damage to the pavement near the tunnel, according to Gautier.
Rose said it is too early to confirm if Central Subway construction is cause of the break.
He said a boring machine is located about 100 feet north of where the leak occurred. The machine is being used underground to carve out a tunnel for the new subway line that will eventually connect passengers from the San Francisco Caltrain Station to Chinatown.
Sasha Lekach, Bay City News
1:35 PM: San Francisco’s Stockton Tunnel near Union Square is closed to all vehicles except San Francisco Municipal Railway buses this afternoon because of a water main break in the area, a city Public Utilities Commission spokeswoman said.
A leak was reported just before noon on a 4-inch main near Stockton and Sutter streets, SFPUC spokeswoman Suzanne Gautier said.
Crews are on the scene trying to stop the flow of water and repair the leak, she said.
Water is bubbling from under the street and there may be damage to the pavement near the tunnel, she said.
The cause of the leak is under investigation, she said.
Sasha Lekach, Bay City News
