A burst watermain that blew a fairly big hole into Oxford Street led to major traffic headaches for drivers on the morning commute.
The 60-year-old cast iron pipe split around 10:30 p.m. Monday night on Oxford at Talbot Streets.
"It was a bad break. It is a 12-inch watermain and there was roughly about 10 feet of pipe that had split and washed out a good portion of the road," said Steve Fazekas, the city's supervisor of water operations.
Oxford between Richmond Street and Talbot Street was closed during Tuesday's morning rush hour as a result.
City crews work to repair a watermain break at Oxford and Talbot Streets.
City crews worked through the night to replace the broken pipe, getting a new one in place and water switched back on by 5 a.m. Tuesday.
"Then we started the process of backfilling the hole and prepping it for asphalt," said Fazekas.
By mid-morning, crews were waiting on a private contractor hired by the city to bring asphalt from Hamilton to repave the affected stretch of roadway.
Fazekas added the process will take several more hours as the surface will need time to harden before Oxford can be completely re-opened to traffic.
By 10 a.m., all eastbound lanes and one westbound lane of Oxford had been re-opened. The remaining westbound lane re-opened shortly before 6 p.m.