OAKDALE, Minn.—The water main that broke Sunday morning in the eastern Twin Cities suburb of Oakdale and forced the closure of part of Interstate 694 has been replaced and only one resident remains without water, city officials said Wednesday.
About 87,000 cars use that stretch of I-694 each day.
An 11-foot-long crack in the pipe resulted in a leak of more than 1.5 million gallons of water and created a massive washout or sinkhole that is expected to keep I-694 between Minnesota 36 and Interstate 94 closed until at least the weekend.
Nelson said he was "floored" when he saw the crack in the 12-inch water main.
The water main was installed in 1964 — five years before the interstate opened — but age is not believed to be a factor, Nelson said.
"It occurred over time, and we’re at that place where we found out the time is up," he said.
It includes multiple layers — a pipe inside a pipe inside a pipe, he said.
"I think we’re going to have good stability."
How much the repairs will cost won’t be known for several days, he said.
Nelson said crews had received an alert about three hours earlier that water pressure was dropping.