Water main break shuts down Clairmont Road near I-85

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Crews continued to work into the morning Thursday to repair a 30-inch water main that broke along Clairmont Road between Interstate 85 and Century Center in DeKalb County earlier in the day.

DeKalb County Spokesperson Burke Brennan told Channel 2's Carl Willis the incident appears to be a spontaneous rupture, possibly due to 25- to 50-year-old pipes.

He said the effort to stop the break will last into the morning.

In the meantime, drivers are urged to use the I-85 access road to Briarwood if they are traveling southbound, or Shallowford Road to Dresden Drive if they are driving northbound.

"We have to not only tie off the lines to the 30-inch, we have to tie off every pipe that's tied into it on two sides. So, there's a lot of valves and they're very large and it takes a long time to locate them," Brennan said.

Channel 2's Amanda Cook was there as a new pipe arrived around 6 a.m. Thursday. Crews prepared to install it as traffic built in the area.

The road is expected to be closed through the Thursday morning rush hour.

When the line ruptured underground, it took out the eastbound lanes and the turn lane of Clairmont Road.

Brennan said the best workers can hope for now is opening the two westbound lanes once they get the break isolated.

"Depending on when that happens, most people might not notice when we turn off the water to fix the break. This is going to be a traffic issue," Brennan said.

Throughout the day Wednesday, the break affected many of the businesses and homes in the area.

"We had to get off the bus. I have to walk to my job. At my job down here at Crown Security Solutions and then probably have to walk back," said commuter Keith Crockett

"I just know I'm going to have to work my schedule around that, take into consideration that today it took me another hour," said resident Caitlin Cash.

A hotel nearby said it lost water service Wednesday while crews tried to fix the rupture. Repair crews said other businesses and homes may lose service as well while crews continue to repair the break.

WSBTV