UPDATE: Water service has been restored to all homes affected by the outage, according to Norfolk Department of Utilities Spokesperson Harry Kenyon. Pipe repairs have been made.
Norfolk, Va. - Crews are on the scene of a water main break near Chesapeake Blvd. in Norfolk, officials tell NewsChannel 3.
The call came in around 6 a.m. on Friday, July 12. Crews arrived on scene at 7 a.m. A 12-inch water main was broken at 8606 Sturgis Street, near the corner of Sturgis and East Bayview Boulevard. Crews were able to isolate the water main and are now working to replace the pipe and repair a portion of Sturgis Street, which has buckled due to the main break.
Workers had to shut off the valves in order to isolate the water main then excavate the pipe and determine the extent of the repair, says Harry Kenyon, Spokesperson for Norfolk Department of Utilities.
Currently, 28 homes are without water service. Kenyon says 24 of those are on Sturgis Street and the remaining four are on East Bayview Boulevard.
East Bayview Boulevard is open to traffic, but the 8600 block of Sturgis Street is closed.
Crews are in the process of evaluating the repair, and will soon have a better determination of how long the repair is going to take.
Kenyon says it's hard to tell the cause of the water main break; extreme temperatures may be to blame. Cast iron water mains tend to expand and contract, creating the potential for water main breaks.
Stay with NewsChannel 3 for updates.
