Local News in Brief : Huntington Beach : Leak That Gnawed on Newland St. Repaired

A leaking water line that on Sunday created a gaping hole in Newland Street near Warner Avenue was patched and the road repaved and opened to traffic by noon Monday, city officials said.

Lyman McCray, field supervisor of the municipal water department, said the leak was located in a one-inch service pipe connecting a water main beneath Newland with a convenience store just south of Warner.

The break in the small pipe created havoc for surrounding businesses that were without water during the hunt for the leak Sunday and for motorists who had to take detours while repair work was under way.

Three on-duty paramedics, traveling on Newland in a Westminster Fire Department van, inadvertently discovered the water leak at 9:50 a.m. Sunday when the asphalt crumbled beneath them about 200 feet south of the intersection, they said.

Crews had to dig up the road to find the leak. And the hole grew to at least 25 feet in length because workers had to dig until they stopped finding water, city officials said.

But by noon Monday, workers had filled the crater with rock base, over which they poured asphalt, McCray said.