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Broken water main on Island Highway interrupts traffic, school

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Clay Cullen of the Capital Regional District water management team repairs a broken water main on Island Highway Friday.

A damaged water main temporarily closed Island Highway to vehicle traffic on Friday.

A contractor working on the Island Highway Improvement Project just east of the E&N trestle punctured the 10-inch pipe sending water gushing into the air, and flooding the street.

Traffic was diverted to the Trans Canada Highway following the incident at 10:30 a.m. The delay lasted about one hour.

Don Man Excavating had equipment on site to immediately begin pumping the water into a storm drain. When the Capital Regional District water management crews arrived on scene they were able to stop water flow to the pipe.

Water was also cut off to about 30 homes and nearby Shoreline community middle school, who sent students home early as a result.

The repair was estimated to take three hours. Workers had to remove the section of damaged pipe and fit it with a replacement piece.