ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A large water main break shut down part of N 13th Street in Allentown on Wednesday afternoon, flooding the roadway and disrupting water service for at least one nearby business, according to city and utility officials.
Crews responded to the scene near 13th and Liberty streets around 1 p.m., where a 12-inch main burst beneath the roadway. The Lehigh County Authority (LCA), which manages the city’s water system, said the break has since been isolated.
“We have a 12-inch water main break. We have it isolated,” said Joseph Younes, manager with the Lehigh County Authority. “We’re gonna make the repair to the water main, and then we’ll make full restoration of the road.”
Younes said the cause appears to be linked to aging infrastructure.
“It’s just the age of pipe,” he said. “Very hard to determine.”
The break primarily affected the nearby daycare Kiddie City, which dismissed students early. Other nearby properties, including a school building and several businesses, were not significantly impacted.
“Currently, the daycare is affected, and they are dismissing,” Younes said. “The school is okay — it’s an empty building — and these guys were affected as well, but they had already planned to shut down for the day.”
Younes said repairs to the pipe are expected to be completed within a few hours, with road restoration to follow.
“We’re gonna have the road closed through the evening,” he said. “We expect the restoration of the pipe to happen within the next few hours, and then we’ll begin restoration on the road. So it should be back tomorrow afternoon.”
“Two impacted business customers closed their operations for the remainder of the day, given the water service interruption,” said LCA Communications Director Susan Sampson. “LCA crews are currently working to repair the break, and N. 13th St. will remain closed until road restoration takes place tomorrow.”
Sampson said there was no residential impact. While the break caused visible flooding, Younes said the damage was minimal.
“It looked like a lot of water, but we were able to manage it, isolate it quickly,” he said, adding that any damage to the street was “probably equivalent to a heavy rain.”
Miguel Bonilla with the Allentown Streets Department said his crew first received reports around 1 p.m. and confirmed that the incident falls under LCA’s jurisdiction.
Courtesy: Wetherhold Photography
No comment was immediately available from the Allentown Police Department regarding the scope of the outage or the total number of residents affected.
Gordon Street remains closed between 13th Street and nearby intersections while repairs continue.