It was water, not traffic, that was flowing Friday on South Fifth Street, between Clinton and Lorain streets, as a 10-inch water line burst beneath the road around 3 p.m.

A couple of inches of water flooded the streets as city workers looked for the break. A water pump and an electronic locater were brought in to pinpoint the problem.

The Ohio Utilities Protection Service had to be contacted to make sure there were no gas or electric lines beneath the street, John McCabe, public services

coordinator, said.

"We don’t want to cause more problems than we already have,&uot; he said Friday.

Roughly an 18-by-8 foot section of concrete on the left-hand side of the road was ripped up. Crews worked on the break until around 10 p.m. Friday night, McCabe said, and the block where the break occurred was shut off to traffic. The street has reopened to traffic after the work was complete, but a baracade has been put up around the area where the water line broke.

McCabe said the break was

probably caused by age and the hot, dry weather. The shut-off valve has been paved over, so they couldn’t turn the flow off, he said.

Kenny Miller, water district backhoe operator, said that it doesn’t really matter because they try to fix them wet so people won’t be out of water and the lines won't depressurize.

Another problem was that water and mud was clogging the storm drains, Miller said.

"Overall, it could have been a lot worse,&uot; he said.

Workers at Bryant Health Center, one block away on Fifth Street, said they had a few problems with decreased water pressure, but it was not too bad. Michael Caldwell/The Ironton Tribune