A water main break caused the streets of Madison to crumble Tuesday and left a massive hole at the intersection of North Lake and State Streets, adjacent to student-laden Library Mall.
Madison water utility officials, along with Madison Gas and Electric workers, combined to take care of the problem early Tuesday morning.
Madison Water Utility General Manager David Denig-Chakroff said he was notified of the waterline break around 7 a.m. and crews were immediately summoned to fill the gaping hole located in front of Walgreens on State Street.
""We had crews out there within 20 to 30 minutes,"" Denig-Chakroff said.
Frost heaving—a phenomenon that occurs when frost is embedded deep within the soil near water— was the cause of the break, according to Denig-Chakroff.
He noted the number of water main breaks around the city is abnormally high this year because of the cold weather.
""We've had over 100 main breaks this month,"" Denig-Chakroff said. ""This is just one other, but the unique thing about this one was it caused an outwash of material under the street and then it caused the street to collapse.""
Madison Metro spokesperson Jennifer Bacon said five buses were detoured as a result of the hole. She said the buses were re-routed down Gorham and Johnson streets during rush hour time downtown.
""It was about 7:45 [a.m.],"" Bacon said. ""That's when we got the notice here at our customer service center that the buses were being routed.""
By the end of the day Tuesday, the hole was filled and buses were back on schedule for the evening rush hour.
