Exactly a week after a ruptured water main flooded parts of Chattanooga's Southside district, workers are finishing repairs to the pipe and slowly starting to let water back in.
The 2-foot diameter main, which runs from the Tennessee American Water treatment plant off Amnicola Highway to Rossville, has been joined back together, surrounded with a concrete encasement, and buried under layers of dirt and gravel.
The flooded field at the corner of Main and 14th streets - which business owners started calling "Lake Cowart" - is dry again, and markings for a replacement sidewalk are in place.
"Repairs over the weekend went much better than anticipated," said Kim Dalton, spokeswoman for Tennessee American Water. Workers doubled their efforts in anticipation of Tuesday's storms, Dalton said.
The main received a 4-foot gash Feb. 23 when AT&T subcontractors were drilling along Cowart Street to lay fiber-optic cable.
The broken pipe poured about 25 million gallons of water down Cowart and Main streets, according to water company estimates. Subsequent flooding lasted about two days, causing damage and closures at several businesses.
Even with crews working around the clock, it took two days to find the source of the leak and shut off the water.
The replacement pipe was installed Monday, and crews filled the pipe with water to undergo bacteriological testing on Tuesday, Dalton said.
Water was slowly released into the main on Wednesday night, according to Dalton.
All customers who have experienced low pressure over the last week should see it go back up by this morning, Dalton said.
Dalton said repair estimates haven't yet been completed by the water company's insurance agents. John S. Watson, Tennessee American Water's president, said last week that the water company would be seeking a settlement from whichever party is deemed responsible for the leak.