ATLANTA — After several major water main breaks wreaked havoc on the City of Atlanta for over 72 hours this past weekend, crews worked tirelessly to replace the old water pipes with brand-new ones.
But just how old were those water pipes that seemed to falter at the same time in multiple locations across Atlanta? Well, at least for one major break in Midtown, try nearly 100 years old, city officials said.
The break sent water spewing up from the ground late Friday night near the intersection of West Peachtree Street NW and 11th Street NW -- just hours after another major water break in Atlanta's Mechanicsville neighborhood enacted a boil water advisory, forced businesses to close across the city and left residents without running water for as long as 30 hours.
RELATED: Day 5 of Atlanta water crisis, DeKalb CEO to ask for funds to update 'aging' systems; latest updates
On Tuesday, the City of Atlanta released photos of the pipe that burst. The pipe was connected to the fire hydrant directly adjacent to the Eleventh Street Pub.
This comes after Atlanta Watershed Management said sections of the pipe that broke between Joseph E. Boone Boulevard NW and James P Brawley Drive NW in Mechanicsville were over 80 years old.
"There's barely enough resources to meet these daily demands and these emergencies ... And I think we have an opportunity, and it's imperative (once we're out of this situation) to kind of take a step back and see what we can do from more of a preventative standpoint," said Iris Tien, an associate professor in civil and environmental engineering at Georgia Tech. "Seeing what we can mitigate, what we can repair, what we can potentially replace before one of these big events might happen so that we can be more proactive about how we invest in infrastructure to minimize potential disruptions."
The water main break repairs at that Downtown Atlanta intersection are now complete as of Tuesday morning, according to Atlanta Watershed. There was no word on when the water would be back flowing again.
In Midtown, the new pipes were installed Tuesday morning. The only remaining steps were to make two taps and pressurize the line. The City of Atlanta posted a side-by-side comparison of the old and new pipes on 11th Street and West Peachtree in Midtown.
Officials said West Peachtree Street NE is still closed from north of 10th Street NE to 12th Street NE.
For a full detailed map of neighborhoods and streets affected, click here. Over the weekend, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens declared the City under a state of emergency.
The City of Atlanta Watershed Management announced Monday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would be here Tuesday to assist with the crisis.