MILWAUKEE — It's been nearly a week since one of the largest intersections in downtown Milwaukee has been closed. After a water main break last Wednesday, crews have been working to repair and replace pipes several feet underground at Broadway and Wisconsin Avenue.
Wednesday, TMJ4 learned the pipe that erupted last week, was installed more than 150 years ago.
"Well gross is my first reaction," Katie Hamm said.
Hamm works near the closed intersection. She said she was shocked to hear that the water main that broke near her work was installed in 1872.
That's the same year the city began installing pipes for water distribution.
"So it's a water main, what does that mean? Is it drinking water?" Hamm asked.
TMJ4 confirmed with workers on sight Wednesday that this water main was carrying drinking water.
"In a pipe from 1872? OK, well yeah it's not just gross, we should've replaced that a long time ago," Hamm added.
The pipe that erupted last Wednesday, according to Milwaukee Water Works' website, was one of the first pipes installed in the city back in the late 1800s, making it one of the oldest in the city too.
This is what Wisconsin Ave and Broadway looked like in 1880, eight years after the main was installed.
You can see the dirt roads and horse carriages in the photo above. To put it in perspective, we didn't have cars or telephones at this point in time, but we had water!
"It's overdue to be replaced," Hamm said.
No one from the water works department was available Wednesday to talk with us. Online, the city said it replaces 15-18 miles of water main a year. There's a total of 2,000 miles of water main across the city, so it could take a while to replace all of it.
A worker we spoke to Wednesday said pipes that line downtown should be able to hold up, despite them being 151 years old.
We're told the water main break was unexpected and that cleanup is a routine job. A routine job that just so happens to be blocking a major intersection downtown impacting businesses too.
"People can park in other places, but that's also a very privileged perspective because I have no trouble walking a couple extra blocks, and so getting dropped off, obviously, close to the building isn't an option right now," Hamm explained.
Despite this intersection still under construction, there is good news. Milwaukee Water Works said they're hopeful this intersection will be back open to traffic and the hop as soon as Saturday.
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