Contractor breaks water main on Cornwall’s Brookdale Avenue

Cornwall Water and Sewer Supervisor Shawn O'Brien (right) oversees as city staff shut off the water to a section of Brookdale Avenue on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 after a contractor struck a water main. The resulting torrent of water filled nearby streets. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)

CORNWALL – Some drivers along Brookdale Avenue and Hebert Street got an unexpected car wash Wednesday afternoon.

A contractor hit a water main on Brookdale Avenue, just south of Thirteenth Street West, around 2:15 p.m. causing a torrent of water on the city’s busiest street.

“They accidentally hit a water main when they were installing a force main for the Brookdale Avenue North project, which outlets at Ninth Street, which is the reason for all of that work,” Cornwall Infrastructure Division Manager Michael Fawthrop told Cornwall Newswatch.

A river of water flowed down Brookdale to Twelfth Street West and then on to Hebert Street, leaving Hebert under at least a foot of water. Cars and trucks were creating waves of water on the street.

City workers were able to get the water shut off.

Fawthrop says the contractor, Louis Bray Construction of Vars, Ont., is repairing the water main now, which may set the project back a day. “Really, no substantial overall project delays.”