Thousands of gallons of water gushed through Ninth Avenue's pavement Thursday afternoon as a water main broke for the second time in weeks in the neighborhood.

City workers closed off Ninth between Cooke Street and Montana Avenue, and water service has been shut off to the block. The Utility Superintendent Kevin Hart said service was restored early Thursday evening.

He said the 8-inch water main - the same pipe that ruptured little more than a block to the east June 10, but a different section - probably broke because of poor sub-grade conditions. He said the pipe is located in rocky earth, and that stress fractures may have been leaking for some time before the old ductile iron fully gave way.

The water quickly broke through asphalt in the middle of the street, rushing out in two directions, but Deanna Satre, the Independent Record's webmaster, happened to drive over the break as it was surfacing.

"It was just percolating up through the crack … like a (big) coffeepot," she said.

Water mains in the area are more than a half-century old. The pipe is made of ductile iron, a material that corrodes over time. Occasionally, weakened sections blow out, tearing away the roadbed.

Lunchtime traffic on 11th slowed as the sediment-laden flow rushed along the roadway and dove into Roberts Street drains, beginning its largely underground journey to the Missouri River.

Reporter Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com