A severe water leak on North Washington Street was caused by a hole in an 8-inch line running to the Vicksburg National Military Park, Public Works Director Garnet Van Norman said Thursday.

He said the leak has been repaired and city officials anticipated reopening three of the four lanes on North Washington Thursday afternoon.

“We’ll keep that easternmost lane (where the leak is) closed and have one lane going north and two south. That’s our plan now,” he said. The street was reduced to two-lane traffic after the leak was discovered.

Van Norman said officials do not know whether the 8-inch line was a service line or the mainline for the park. He said it ran under the city’s 36-inch main waterline leading workers to initially suspect the mainline was leaking. The leak was discovered about 5 p.m. Wednesday.

“That 8-inch line crossed under the 36-inch line,” he said. “It had been put there before the mainline was installed in 1967 and it wasn’t even on our maps. The leak was directly under the 36-inch line. When that water came up, it looked like it was coming from the main line.”

He said city crews cut off water to the 36-inch line, but water still flowed. When the flow of water slowed, he said, the damaged line was discovered and patched with a wrap-around clamp.

“It could have been much worse; we were lucky,” Van Norman said.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said the leak is another reason the city needs a 10-year plan, “so we can study and plan and identify these deteriorating lines. We have a GIS system now that can identify and locate those lines.

“I want to commend the city workers who got out and worked to fix the problem and get our service back on,” he said, “And I want to thank our citizens for being patient with us as we worked to get the problem fixed.”

Flaggs said work on the city’s 592 auxiliary waterline project is on schedule, adding plans and specifications were being prepared and he expected the city to advertise the project for bids in the next few months.

The project is designed to install a backup main waterline for the city and the estimated $3.565 million project is funded in part by a $2.45 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers grant.

The board cancelled its contract with IMS Engineers of Jackson in December after initial bids on the project came in more than double the projected cost, and hired EJES Inc.

The Dallas-based company has offices in Jackson.