Pipe Break Leads to Brake Lights
NW Streets Close During Repairs

By Theola Labbé-DeBose
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A rush-hour water main break in Northwest Washington forced the closure of several downtown streets yesterday, snarling traffic through the day.

Officials discovered the break about 8:30 a.m. when they were called to the area of 16th and L streets after a report that two office buildings in the area were experiencing low water pressure.

For several hours, police and D.C. Department of Transportation personnel blocked off 16th Street between K and M streets in both directions and closed parts of 17th Street and L Street in the vicinity, which brought cars and buses to a crawl.

Repair crews from the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority worked throughout the day to install new pipe, said authority spokeswoman Pamela Mooring. Mooring said the broken main was relatively small; some water mains measure up to 78 inches in diameter.

Mooring said many mains fail this time of year, when temperatures swing between cold and moderate. She said that she did not know what the main was made of but added that there are often several main failures a day during the winter.

Traffic in the 1500 block of L Street was down to one lane because of the break, said D.C. Department of Transportation spokesman John Lisle.

Staff writer Michael E. Ruane contributed to this report.