Inner Drive Re-Opens Two Days After Water Main Break
Friday Morning Water Main Break Floods Inner Drive
POSTED: 6:05 a.m. CST November 8, 2002
UPDATED: 2:31 p.m. CST November 10, 2002
CHICAGO -- 
Lake Shore Drive has been re-opened to traffic, just two-days after a water main break closed down the roadway due to flooding.
Since Friday, crews have been working non-stop, and managed to get the inner-drive open, far ahead of schedule.
A 36-inch water main broke along Lake Shore Drive at Addison around 3:20 a.m. Friday, Nov. 8. Water was seen gushing for hours, flooding the area and causing a sink hole to open up in the street at Addison and inner Lake Shore Drive. (Pictured, left: Lake Shore Drive flooding around 6 a.m. Friday.)
Video: Lake Shore Drive Flooded, Closed
No injuries were reported, but several parked cars were reportedly swallowed up by the sink hole, which police said was at least 30 feet wide. Water in the sinkhole was 9 feet deep, at one point.
Some of the cars reported fell "nose first" into the hole, and it took hours for workers to remove them.
Streets and Sanitation workers relocated cars in the flooded area to the Montrose Beach parking lot. A department spokesperson said drivers could just show up with their keys to retrieve their car if it was moved.
Lake Shore Drive was closed in both directions between Irving Park Road and Belmont Avenue, as the city triggered an emergency response. Shortly after 6:30 a.m., northbound lanes were reopened. About an hour later, southbound lanes were also reopened.
(Pictured, right: Water main break prior to being shut off.)
The Chicago Water Department was reportedly able to shut off the flow from the broken main just before 6 a.m. Police said workers from the Water and Fire Departments worked together to pump the floodwater away.
Police said the break was centered near the 3500 block of Lake Shore Drive. Water Department spokesman Tom LaPorte said it would take a while to determine exactly what led to the break.
Asked if the water main break could be a consequence of an Alaskan earthquake that seismologists believe affected water supplies in parts of Illinois, LaPorte said he had not heard that speculation and he did not have the expertise to address the question on his own.
Alaska Earthquake Affects Some Illinois Drinking Water
An engineer at a nearby condominium building said the basement of the building was flooded.
Police said it would take most of the day to clean up the scene and repair the water main break. Water Department Commissioner Richard Rice said the clean-up would take days.
"It's going to be several days before the street reopens," Rice said. Rice said People's Energy crews would have to cut off a gas line that runs parallel to the water main in order to repair the water main. By mid-morning, crews were digging holes at Lake Shore Drive and Brompton Avenue and at Lake Shore Drive and Addision Street.
Shortly after 10 a.m., Rice said that once the gas was shut off, workers could remove a black Ford ZX3 and a black Buick LeSabre that were still in the sinkhole.
(Pictured, left: water receding in sinkhole, 6:30 a.m.)
City officials are still looking for a cause of the break. Water mains have a 100-year life span, but this one sprung a leak after just 30 years.
Bus Rerouting: CTA Web Site
Lake Shore Drive has been re-opened to traffic, just two-days after a water main break closed down the roadway due to flooding.
Since Friday, crews have been working non-stop, and managed to get the inner-drive open, far ahead of schedule.
A 36-inch water main broke along Lake Shore Drive at Addison around 3:20 a.m. Friday, Nov. 8. Water was seen gushing for hours, flooding the area and causing a sink hole to open up in the street at Addison and inner Lake Shore Drive. (Pictured, left: Lake Shore Drive flooding around 6 a.m. Friday.)
Video: Lake Shore Drive Flooded, Closed
No injuries were reported, but several parked cars were reportedly swallowed up by the sink hole, which police said was at least 30 feet wide. Water in the sinkhole was 9 feet deep, at one point.
Some of the cars reported fell "nose first" into the hole, and it took hours for workers to remove them.
Streets and Sanitation workers relocated cars in the flooded area to the Montrose Beach parking lot. A department spokesperson said drivers could just show up with their keys to retrieve their car if it was moved.
Lake Shore Drive was closed in both directions between Irving Park Road and Belmont Avenue, as the city triggered an emergency response. Shortly after 6:30 a.m., northbound lanes were reopened. About an hour later, southbound lanes were also reopened.
(Pictured, right: Water main break prior to being shut off.)
The Chicago Water Department was reportedly able to shut off the flow from the broken main just before 6 a.m. Police said workers from the Water and Fire Departments worked together to pump the floodwater away.
Police said the break was centered near the 3500 block of Lake Shore Drive. Water Department spokesman Tom LaPorte said it would take a while to determine exactly what led to the break.
Asked if the water main break could be a consequence of an Alaskan earthquake that seismologists believe affected water supplies in parts of Illinois, LaPorte said he had not heard that speculation and he did not have the expertise to address the question on his own.
Alaska Earthquake Affects Some Illinois Drinking Water
An engineer at a nearby condominium building said the basement of the building was flooded.
Police said it would take most of the day to clean up the scene and repair the water main break. Water Department Commissioner Richard Rice said the clean-up would take days.
"It's going to be several days before the street reopens," Rice said. Rice said People's Energy crews would have to cut off a gas line that runs parallel to the water main in order to repair the water main. By mid-morning, crews were digging holes at Lake Shore Drive and Brompton Avenue and at Lake Shore Drive and Addision Street.
Shortly after 10 a.m., Rice said that once the gas was shut off, workers could remove a black Ford ZX3 and a black Buick LeSabre that were still in the sinkhole.
(Pictured, left: water receding in sinkhole, 6:30 a.m.)
City officials are still looking for a cause of the break. Water mains have a 100-year life span, but this one sprung a leak after just 30 years.
Bus Rerouting: CTA Web Site Copyright 2002 by NBC5.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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