Water pipes burst, leave fissure

Old pipes that finally gave way were behind Wednesday’s early morning water main break in Newport Beach, which caused part of a street to cave in and leave behind a gaping hole, city officials said.

While city workers quickly shut off water to the 83-year-old main, which broke beneath Via Lido near the corner of Newport Boulevard, they still were busy late Wednesday afternoon repairing the damaged road, whose westbound lanes had to be closed to traffic.

George Murdoch, the city’s utilities director, said the road work would continue round-the-clock. He hopes to be able to open one of the two westbound lanes by this morning, but doesn’t expect repairs on that section of Via Lido to be finished before next week.

Soon after city workers switched off the water as they responded about 1 a.m. to a report of flooding, the road caved in, opening up a 30-by-30-foot, 10-foot-deep hole, city officials said. The water main broke at a T-section beneath the street, which joined a 20-inch pipe with a 12-inch pipe, Murdoch said.

The main’s rupture flooded a nearby parking garage, and inundated a half-block radius in water 6 to 8 inches deep, city officials said. They said no nearby businesses were flooded.

However, one business, Tangible Investments, a buyer and seller of fine artwork and silver coins, had its water service disrupted. Service was restored late Wednesday. In the meantime, store employees had to use the restroom at the nearby Starbucks.

“I was very concerned that we were going to be feet deep in water,” said store owner Silvano Digenova. “I’m overjoyed. It could’ve easily done $100,000 worth of damages.”

He said his store carries furniture and artwork valued at up to $300,000.

Matt Bullman, a Newport Beach utilities department crew chief, and his crew were the first to reach the scene early Wednesday. They switched off the water and placed sandbags to block the water’s flow, but that section of the street caved in soon after, Bullman said.

Another section of Via Lido was currently under construction farther down the street, but that had nothing to do with the broken main, Murdoch said.

“Can you imagine the type of damage this big hole could’ve done at night? Any car could’ve easily fallen into it,” he said.