Except for one block of one street remaining closed, everything is back to normal after the break of an underground pipe unleashed 14 million gallons of water just before the afternoon rush hour in downtown Minneapolis a week ago, the city said late Thursday morning.
Permanent water service is now fully restored and "tests confirmed today that the water is safe to drink," the city said in its latest update.
A water main 36 inches in diameter was struck by a piece of construction equipment on Jan. 3 at Hennepin Avenue and N. 2nd Street, leaving a 6-foot-long gash in the 122-year-old cast-iron pipe.
The contractor, working at a nearby apartment-retail development, was boring under the street to install a sleeve for a sewer line linking the new building to the city's sewer system.
The only street that remains closed in connection with the break is a block-long stretch of N. 2nd Street from Hennepin Avenue to 1st Avenue N.
PAUL WALSH
