Photo by Sam duPont

Rush hour just south of Dupont Circle turned into a wet, muddy mess this morning after a large water main beneath the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and N Street NW broke open. The bursting of the pipe opened a sinkhole in the middle of the busy intersection and sent murky, brown water gushing up to the surface.

While initial reports cited the pipe that broke as a 12-inch main running under Connecticut Avenue, D.C. Water spokesman Alan Heymann says the agency believes the trouble spot emanated from an 8-inch main beneath the sidewalk.

Ten nearby buildings lost water service with crews cutting off the 12-inch main.

The street-level flooding is also making the morning commute especially hellish. Connecticut Avenue is closed between R and N streets NW, a stretch that includes the tunnel under Dupont Circle. Metro is rerouting its 42, 43, N2 and N4 bus lines between 20th and 17th streets.

The pipe burst in front of 1250 Connecticut Avenue, site of the recently closed restaurant Casa Nonna. Crews from D.C. Water, D.C. Fire and EMS and other agencies are responding to the scene. Workers in the surrounding office buildings have reported losing water service and air conditioning, while others have said they cannot even get to work.

If the pipe burst did in fact come from the 8-inch main, Heymann says the repair time will be much briefer and the affected buildings will have their water service restored much sooner. A D.C. Water crew has cleaned up most of the water and debris that bubbled up from beneath the street.

“We’re still looking for the exact location of the break,” Heymann says. If the 8-inch pipe turns out to be the culprit, Heymann says restoring service will be a simple task of switching off that pipe and restarting the 12-inch main. It would also make it more possible for the area to be reopened in time for the afternoon rush hour, he says.