The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

May 13, 2012

Water main break floods downtown intersection

The Free Press

MANKATO — A large water main break at Front and Cherry streets Saturday caused a flood and water service disruptions to businesses.

Lt. Scott LeBrun of the Mankato Fire Department said the water main broke just after 6 p.m. Saturday. Mankato public works employees responded to begin repairs shortly after.

To get to the water main, LeBrun said public works would have to tear up the intersection, which was closed to traffic Saturday night.

“(The water) came up onto the street,” he said. “It wasn’t super deep. The storm sewers were able to keep up with it.”

Crews were working in the area late Saturday night, where sediment and sand, coming up from under the street, were smeared over a wide area. Tony Talamantez, infrastructure superintendent with Mankato Public Works, said the void created under the concrete caused extensive damage.

“That whole intersection will have to be re-done. Pretty much all those panels have been re-buckled or dropped,” he said.

The basement of Choppers, a downtown bar, was reportedly flooded and some inventory was destroyed. The extent of the damage is unknown.

Talamantez said only one of the nearby businesses — Pub 500 — was out of water, and workers planned to run a temporary water feed Saturday night.

LeBrun said it’s unclear what caused the break. He didn’t know how old the water lines were in the area.

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