Stretch of Central Avenue reopens after huge sewage spill, Charlotte Water says
Editor’s note: This story was updated Wednesday, July 20, after all lanes reopened.
Charlotte Water crews reopened a block of Central Avenue on Wednesday afternoon after a massive sewage spill into Little Sugar Creek earlier this month.
“All lanes of the 1300 block of Central Ave are open,” the utility posted on Twitter at 4:42 p.m.
Charlotte Water originally hoped to reopen the road Tuesday night, Ajonelle Poole, a communications management analyst with the utility, said in an email to The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday.
Water and wastewater pipes have been repaired, she said. “Weather permitting (rain and heat) road paving should occur Wednesday and the intersection should open by evening” Poole said.
An estimated 14,400 gallons spilled into the creek after a pipe failure, Charlotte Water spokesman Cam Coley told the Observer on July 9. The creek is part of the Catawba River watershed.
Charlotte Water found the leaking pipe when a customer of the utility called July 7 about a manhole on Central Avenue, officials posted on CLTWaterBlog.org.
“A rapid response crew was dispatched to investigate and found that the manhole needed a new top and interior cleaning due to grease build-up,” according to the blog post.
Leak was 17 feet underground
A day later, crews discovered that the pipe was leaking 17 feet below ground, and they had no choice but to close the road, Charlotte Water officials said.
The utility installed temporary pumps to keep the wastewater, err, flowing, and prevent a larger spill, according to the post.
Crews moved a drinking water pipe from near the work area to reduce water outages and installed two new valves to maintain water service to businesses
Crews began digging under the 1300 block of Central Avenue on Friday night, July 8. That’s at Lamar Avenue, near Hawthorne Lane.
Observer staff writer Jonathan Limehouse contributed to this story.
This story was originally published July 19, 2022 at 12:13 PM.