Mayor Jim Ferrell looked out over the gaping hole in the roadway on 1st Avenue South, which was closed on Saturday morning after a water main break caused a large section of roadway to collapse.

“It is amazing the destructive power of water in a very short period of time,” said Ferrell, who was on-site with Public Works Department staff. “This whole bank got washed out.”

South King Fire and Rescue officials discovered the water main break at approximately 2:30 a.m. and notified the Lakehaven Utility District, according to John Bowman, general manager of Lakehaven.

The water that poured through the eight-inch water main break eroded a 15-foot section of roadway in the southbound lane of 1st Avenue South at 317th Street, Bowman said.

“We’ve got crews on-site; the water is shut off,” he noted. “We’ve got about 10 homes out of service and we’re going to stay on the site until we get the road back open.”

Crews closed 1st Avenue South from 316th Street to 320th Street. At approximately 10:30 a.m., Bowman said crews were assessing the damage and plan to notify the affected homeowners of how long they may be without water, which could be most of the day.

While Lakehaven doesn’t have an assessment yet of damages, he said it could cost the utility district approximately $100,000 to repair the damage.

“We’ve got a lot of people on it and it’s good to have so many dedicated people on their normal day off to get this solved,” Ferrell added.

Photos below courtesy of Mayor Jim Ferrell.

Mayor Jim Ferrell assesses the damage of the waterline break on 1st Avenue South with city staff. Contributed photo