Building evacuated for water main break on East 9th Street in Cleveland

CLEVELAND - A building in downtown Cleveland was evacuated for a water main break Thursday night.

East 9th Street between St. Clair and Superior avenues was closed to southbound traffic for hours while crews worked on the break that sent water gushing down the street.

A 6-inch water line feeding the 16-story IMG Center, located at 1360 East 9th St. broke at the start of the evening rush sending water flowing down East 9th Street.

Just after 6:30 p.m. crews were able to cut off the water to the break and begin the process of excavating the street and repairing the line.

Interim Cleveland Water Commissioner Alex Margevicius said the cold weather likely played a role.

"When the frost level gets deeper and deeper into the ground it puts forces on those mains and causes them to pop and we think that's probably what's occurring here," Margevicius said.

The break was in the area of a major water main break in January 2000, when a 36-inch cast iron water main from the 1800's ruptured flooding a large section of East 9th.

"All the time you think about those things," Margevicius said. "Fortunately, we haven't had one of the really big ones in some time now, but that's always a possibility."

Crews hope to have the line repaired in time for the IMG Center to open for workers in the morning.

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