Staff Photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Rick Stephens, left, and Lamar Jenkins of TAWC operate a water valve at the intersection of Cowart and Main streets on Thursday. Trucks seen in the background are parked at the Cowart Street location where a 24-inch water main was broken by a fiber-optics crew on Wednesday.As workers in Chattanooga’s Southside district mopped up water that spilled from a broken water main into their businesses Wednesday and Thursday, many wondered who would foot the bill for damage.
“We shouldn’t have to pay for this,” said Ty Cooper, who owns Main Street Warehouse near the corner of Main and Williams streets. “This will be a big expense for a small-business owner like us.”
The warehouse basement flooded more than 10 inches deep, elevator cables are sitting in water, and one tenant’s toilets overflowed with sewer water twice after water from the broken main poured down the street’s storm drains.
Tennessee American President John S. Watson said Thursday it could take two to three weeks to repair the damaged 24-inch transmission main, which ruptured Wednesday morning when it was struck by an AT&T subcontractor drilling near the intersection of Cowart and 14th streets.
The water company reported that crews finished shutting off the water pouring into the main at 5 a.m. Thursday, although water flowed down Cowart Street the rest of the day because of a cracked valve, Watson said. After the water is completely turned off and the company deems that the area is safe for workers to dig, they’ll start repairs, he said.