Attempting to fix water main, crews in Oakland rupture sewer pipe

An 82-year-old water main burst in Oakland Thursday morning, cutting service to homes and flooding an intersection, officials said.

Then, to compound the situation, crews digging to fix the broken water main busted through a sewer pipe, which also required repair.

The break was reported to the East Bay Municipal Utility District at 4 a.m. at Santa Clara and Oakland avenues, said Abby Figueroa, an agency spokeswoman. Crews got there shortly afterward and were able to shut off the water, she said. Around 15 customers are without water currently. Two lanes of eastbound traffic are closed on Oakland Avenue and the left-turn lane is also closed on Santa Clara Avenue.

The break occurred on a 12-inch cast iron pipe that was installed in 1933, she said.

As crews dug the hole to fix the water main, they ruptured an 8-inch sewer pipe that was below the water line, Figueroa said, but both breaks were expected to be fixed by Friday morning.

Earlier this week, crews responded to nine water main ruptures in the East Bay after a 4.0 earthquake shook the Bay Area. It’s unclear if Thursday’s water main break resulted from the earthquake.