Water break wreaks havoc in Newark
By John Zornow

At approximately 10:30 last night, Newark-Wayne Community Hospital noticed problems with their water pressure. At the same time, an alarm at the water treatment plant in Shortsville signaled a problem.

A major water main break was discovered on the south side of the North Main St. canal bridge, and before village crews were able to isolate the problem and turn off valves, 367,000 gallons of water, escaped from a 10' water main and washed enough soil and debris from behind the bridge abutment to create a 'sandbar' in the canal.

By 11:15 p.m., village crews, under Operations Manager Jim Bridgeman, had shut the supply to that area off. Normal pressure returned to that area of the village. Many residents who had retired for the night did not even notice an interruption in service.

The Newark Fire Department was on the scene and shut down the North Main St. bridge, because of uncertainties about the effects on the abutment, caused by the huge washout. All traffic was diverted to either the East Avenue or Clinton Avenue bridges. An overhead street light was removed by NYSEG before it fell into the canal.

Newark Mayor Peter Blandino assured Newark residents that the water supply was safe. Tests have been taken and hydrants are being flushed as a precaution. Blandino was assured by the Operations Manager that a boil water advisory was not necessary.

As of 9 a.m. this morning, NYS Department of Transportation crews had taken over and they will determine if the bridge structure is safe, and hopefully open the west half of the bridge to traffic. As of this posting, the bridge remains closed.

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