An early-morning water main break Thursday left 35 buildings around Dupont Circle without water and created a traffic “mess” as Connecticut Avenue and N Street NW remained closed for most of the day.
Crews worked through the evening to repair the leak under N Street, but DC Water officials said the road likely would not open until Friday morning.
Southbound lanes of Connecticut Avenue, where much of the water flowed, were closed through the morning commute Thursday, but at least one lane was available by 4:30 p.m.
As crews worked into the evening to repair the leak, two buildings were without power and 35 without water. Several buildings were evacuated, and a DC Water spokesman said it has begun fielding property damage reports.
A clothing store owner described watching several inches of water flow through the street Thursday afternoon.
“We did a little business, but it kind of killed the day,” Lew Tipograph said. “They’re not letting people walk up the street because there’s a major stream flowing down Connecticut Avenue alongside the sidewalk.”
He said most of the surrounding buildings look all right, but water seemed to be flowing into a nearby parking deck.
“We’re dry,” Tipograph said. “It’s part of living in the city. These things happen. I’m not happy about it, but it’s out of our control.”
The line broke under N Street about 5:30 a.m., causing water to flow under Connecticut Avenue, where it surfaced and caused the road to buckle.
Crews repaved a section of Connecticut Avenue, but addressing the leak under N Street will be a much larger job.
The cause of this particular break wasn’t known as of Thursday afternoon, but DC Water spokesman Alan Heymann said the District experiences about 400 breaks a year.
“Typically, water main breaks happen as a result of the age of the pipe itself, as a result of the weather,” he said.
