West Hartford

Excavation Work Begins on Sewer Blockage in West Hartford

Officials from the Metropolitan District said it appears a portion of pipe liner caused a sewer blockage that flooded the area of Linbrook Road and North Main Street in West Hartford Wednesday morning and sent water seeping into homes.

The best way to get to the blockage will be to excavate the area, according to MDC, and the work has begun.

“I went down and I looked in my basement, and I have 4 and a half feet of water,” said Rick Bush, of West Hartford. Bush said he recently remodeled his home.

“I have four kids and all of our personal belongings are down there, which is not a great idea, but I have a small house with a lot of people, so it’s a big loss for me. Big, big loss,” he said.

Video showed water bubbling up on the road and pooling in the street to the point where some crews wore waders to cross the waterlogged road.

MDC released a statement Wednesday morning saying that an MDC contractor performed sewer pipe restoration work in the Linbrook Road area over the summer of 2018 and MDC’s contractor was working with staff to complete the investigation and determine the cause of the current issue.

On Wednesday night, the company provided an update, saying they attempted a man entry to find the blockage, but the water was still too high.

MDC's contractor began excavating. The work should be completed today, then staff should be able to determine the extent of the repair and come up with estimates on how long it will take to complete the work. 

They said residential sewer service in the area is not affected by the blockage.

MDC staff have contacted affected residents and are coordinating with a contractor to begin water removal and cleanup of the affected areas in the homes, according to MDC.

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