Updated: Officials Say Water Main Break Should be Repaired by Rush Hour

A water main break on Linwood Avenue near Sollas Court shut down traffic on the county road between Paramus Road and Walthery Avenue Thursday night and forced ambulances to take a different route to Valley Hospital. Crews have been working throughout the night to repair the break and Ridgewood Water officials project the fix will be completed and the road entirely opened before the afternoon traffic rush.

Ridgewood Water Business Director David Scheibner said at about 6:30 p.m. on Thursday night water began rushing out onto Linwood Avenue between Sollas Court and the Saddle River. Police, fire and emergency service shut down the road from Paramus Road to Walthery as crews began fixing a lateral crack in the length of a large pipe.

Thru-traffic can currently pass through Linwood Avenue, though delays should be expected and it will remain clogged until work is completed before rush-hour traffic late Friday afternoon, Scheibner said.

"We're not sure why it broke," he said of the cracked pipe. "I wouldn't call it as a major infrastructure problem. There's no indicator of that," Scheibner said Friday morning.

"When a main breaks you don't always know when it broke, you just know when the water makes its way to the surface."

The force of water lifted "a pretty big piece of pavement" which will require the Streets Division to add base asphalt, according to the utility's business director. In a month's time, when the material fully settles, finish will be applied and the road "will be like new," he added.

The break is currently limited to three houses after the utility added an extra valve and those three homeowners will have water returned within the next few hours, Scheibner said. The water supply to Valley Hospital was never disturbed, he said.

"We made a great effort to make sure the smallest shutdown area would remain in effect until the entire repair is complete."

Last updated 11:39 a.m. Friday, June 10.