OCWD provides an update on water outage in Ohio Co.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) — Ohio County Water District officials shared more information about the major water rupture on a main pipeline Thursday.

As we’ve reported, the water main break is under the William Natcher Parkway at Cromwell Road, leaving more than 1,700 customers without water.

Officials say after several attempts over the past two days, they discovered the original casing pipe under the Natcher Parkway has failed in multiple places, making it impossible for our crews to reuse the existing casing and pull a new pipe through.

They say their emergency contractor Luttrell and Sons Construction, along with our OCWD crews, have been working tirelessly over the last two days to try and resolve the situation, but the condition of the pipe has prevented us from doing so.

A specialized contractor that performs large directional drilling will begin mobilizing equipment on-site to perform a new bore.

OCWD officials say this process can unfortunately be challenging and time-consuming due to the subsurface conditions, which may include rock and other obstacles.

Their specialized contractor has estimated this work will take 7-10 days to complete.

Crews say they are also exploring all options for potential expedited temporary solutions.

They are planning to run a temporary line along the shoulder of Cromwell Road. This takes special materials that we are currently procuring.

Officials say they hope to have this completed by the end of Tuesday.

Shower are also available at the Ohio County Wellness Center.

We will update you as this story continues to develop.

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