Repairs to a leaking water main next to Route 44 in downtown Norfolk began on Tuesday, May 15, when a crew from John J. Brennan Construction in Shelton, Conn. tore up the side of the road just east of Grant Street. Discovering that the pipe was under the sidewalk, they came back the next day to dig there, only to realize after digging down five or six feet that their excavator could not reach the pipe. Returning at 7 a.m. on Friday with a larger excavator, they eventually found the pipe at a depth of 14 feet. The water had been shut off for most of the day. When it was turned back on after patching the leak, they found a second leak. It took them until midnight to get the second leak repaired, the road closed back up, and the guard rail reinstalled. A representative from Aquarion Water Company said the repair of this pipe, which was installed around 1880, was among the more difficult he had ever performed.

—Eric Anderson

Photos by Eric Anderson.