Fayetteville's Center Street flooded from ruptured water line

A ruptured water line flooded Center Street just east of the downtown square Wednesday.

A contractor boring under the street punctured an 8-inch pipe shortly before noon. Fayette Tree and Trench was preparing to run fiber-optic cable from the University of Arkansas Global Campus building to East Square Plaza, where the university’s Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History is moving.

Water ran over the curb on Center Street in the 20 minutes it took city workers to turn off the water. By then, the asphalt on Center Street had buckled in two places, and red mud caked the street and sidewalks. Traffic was blocked on Center Street, and several businesses on the south side of the road were without running water.

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