Payson Roundup

Tom Brossart/Roundup

Mark Keeney, with the Payson water department, digs out the pavement on West Main Street near the fire station so crews can find out where all the water is coming from. A 12-inch water main apparently broke around 10 a.m. Thursday. See the story on page 2A.

Tom Brossart/Roundup

Water department worker Mark Keeney tears up the pavement on Main Street Thursday morning after a water main broke. Water gushing from the break damaged 50 to 100 feet of pavement.

A 12-inch water pipe on Main Street burst Thursday morning, closing part of the road and shutting off water to a handful of businesses for several hours.

Seven or eight businesses, including the fire department, were without water nearly eight hours as crews worked to repair the pipe, said Public Works Director LaRon Garrett.

Fire Chief Marty deMasi said the fire station would remain operational and all of the trucks are preloaded with water.

Around 10 a.m., a water pipe broke at 400 W. Main Street, directly in front of the fire station, briefly flooding the street until crews could turn water off to the area, Garrett said.

Crews are expected to continue repairs on the line into next week. What caused the pipe to break is still unknown.

Cars were detoured on Main Street between Meadow Street and Westerly Road until 6 p.m. Thursday. Currently there are no restrictions on Main Street travel, but traffic is being diverted around a hole on the south of the street.

“The pipe is on the south side of the street, but it destroyed the asphalt and created a mud pit in the street,” Garrett said.

deMasi said around 100 feet of pavement was weakened, so most of the fire trucks were moved out front of the station until it was safe for the trucks to drive on the road.

“We are not sure what the stability is and a lot of the trucks are pretty heavy, so we don’t want to test it,” deMasi said. After the road was reopened, deMasi said the fire station has returned to normal operations.

Initially Circle H Car Wash, Bank of America and Payson Care Center were without water, but water was returned after 30 minutes.

Several residents in the area reported a sudden drop in water pressure around the time the pipe burst.