(Updated at 11:50 a.m.) A major water main break has shut down a number of roads in Crystal City.
For at least an hour, water was spraying about 5 feet in the air out from buckled pavement at the intersection of 12th Street and S. Clark Street. The water flow has now been significantly reduced by Arlington County crews on scene, but not before it created a large, half-block long pond at the intersection.
The water came from a rupture in a 12-inch water main, according to Arlington County Department of Environmental Services spokeswoman Shannon Whalen McDaniel. As a result of work to stop the water flow, several large nearby buildings — 200 and 201 12th Street S.; 1215, 1225 and 1235 S. Clark Street; and the North Tract Loft apartments — have had their water supply cut.
“They’re working right now to isolate the break so that they can restore water to the buildings and any affected businesses,” said Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. Workers were encouraged to move their cars from nearby underground parking garages, as a precaution due to minor flooding, he said.
The water also flowed down Long Bridge Drive and seeped into the Boeing construction site, officials, prompting work at the site to be halted for at least the rest of the day. Crews deployed measures to stop the water from flowing into and accumulating at the the bottom of the site, Sternbeck said.
Current road closures include Long Bridge Drive from 12th Street to a private driveway being used to divert traffic from Crystal Drive, 12th Street from Eads to 15th Street, 10th Street at Long Bridge Drive, and S. Clark Street at the intersection with 12th.
