Burst water main leaves gaping holeA burst water main which gushed for six hours last night has left a gaping hole in a busy street in Sydney’s east.
Video feedback Video settings Major traffic delays and costly insurance claims are expected in Sydney’s east after a large water main burst overnight.
The water main, which measures 1.2 metres in diameter and runs under the middle of Moore Park Road at Paddington, burst about 5.30pm yesterday.
The rupture ripped a large hole in the bitumen at the corner of Moore Park and Oatley roads at Paddington, flooding the road and the underground car park of a nearby apartment block, a Sydney Water spokeswoman said.
“It’s a very big pipe so that’s why there was some flooding on Moore Park Road,” the spokeswoman said.
Sydney Water technicians have stemmed the flow, but water is still flowing along the street while NSW Fire Brigades pump out water from the car park, she said.
Dianne Hill, who lives at Paddington Barracks apartment block 50 metres from the burst main, said she was leaving her home about 5pm yesterday when she opened the gate to see “a torrent of water” coursing down the street.
“It was unbelievable. It was like Bondi Beach comes to Paddington,” she said.
She said the water was knee-deep more than an hour later.
Her neighbour said the water was too strong to leave her home.
Ms Hill said her Subaru Impreza was submerged to the top of its door in the block’s underground car park and all her personal belongings – including photos that were in a storage area at the back of the car park – were ruined.
The water reached a depth of about two metres in the car park, submerging dozens of cars.
Craig Gill, another resident of the block, lost his record collection in the car park storage area.
More than 200 albums had their covers ruined, he said, and some of them had signed autographs of artists on them.
Today he put on a snorkel and Wellington boots to wade into the car park – where some of the cars at the back are still fully submerged – in the hope of salvaging some of his belongings.
“It
