Relief is in sight for Tampa commuters who've been dealing with two major water main breaks on busy streets the past couple days.
Pipes broke near the intersection of S Dale Mabry Highway and Gandy Boulevard in south Tampa on Monday and on Ashley Drive and Tyler Street in downtown Tampa on Tuesday.
Ashley Drive and Tyler Street will be open to traffic by late afternoon today. Road restoration is expected to be completed by 5 p.m.
All northbound lanes on S Dale Mabry Highway between Ballast Point and Gandy boulevards are scheduled to open by 10 a.m. Thursday.
Crews working around the clock together with favorable weather conditions resulted in completion much earlier than expected.
Brad Baird, director of the Tampa Water Department, said both breaks were caused by a water hammer.
"A water hammer occurs when you're closing valves, starting pumps, stopping pumps, and that creates a shock wave in the water through the pipeline and then the pipeline ends up rupturing at the weakest point," he said.
City officials say Tampa averages about eight water main breaks a day. These two breaks just happened to occur along major roadways.
Ashley Street is the primary conduit from I-275 to downtown Tampa. S Dale Mabry is a major north-south artery in south Tampa.
Bay News 9 traffic expert Chuck Henson recommends to get around the Dale Mabry Highway break, drivers can take Westshore Boulevard, Manhattan Boulevard, Himes Avenue or MacDill Avenue to travel north.
Tampa Water Department officials are blaming aging underground pipes for the two breaks.
"The key is getting out in front of that, being proactive and replacing the worst of the worst before it breaks too many times," Baird said.