As northbound Connecticut Avenue rush hour traffic crawls by, WSSC officials now say the water main break at Chevy Chase Lake Drive that has caused a significant disruption since last night was larger than first reported.
The transmission line that broke, causing an estimated 60 million gallons of water to gush about 30 feet in the air and spill into the stream below, was actually a 60-inch pipe, not a 54-inch pipe.
Pepco and Washington Gas officials had to secure power and natural gas lines near the break. Montgomery County Police were able to reopen all three southbound lanes of Connecticut Avenue at 7 a.m., but all three northbound lanes remained closed until one was reopened this afternoon.
Part of the clean-up process included dealing with an electric utility pole that fell overnight when a tree, in the rapidly eroding creek bed, fell over.
Power outages resulted from the downed wires. Power was restored throughout the morning. WSSC said no customers were without water service as of this morning.
Photos from WSSC via Facebook
