Burst water main floods Tel Aviv streets, causing traffic chaos and road closures

A burst water main caused traffic chaos in Tel Aviv Wednesday, blocking the intersection of two major arteries in the city and leading to the closure of several streets in the area.

Tel Aviv Municipality warned it could take several days to repair the damage.

Flooding and washed-away soil filled the intersection of Moshe Dayan Road and Hashalom Road.

Overnight work by the Israeli Electric Corporation burst a pipe close to a large hole being dug for infrastructure.

Videos posted on social media showed streets turned into rivers.

The IEC said in a statement that a contractor working on infrastructure damaged a water pipe that runs from Tel Aviv to the Givatayim suburb. It said a large number of workers were deployed to the scene and efforts were underway to reopen the roads.

צינור מים התפוצץ וגרם להצפה בצומת הרחובות משה דיין ודרך השלום. הרחובות שנחסמו לתנועה באזור: משה דיין – יצחק שדה לכיוון צפון, עליית הנוער מנחלת יצחק לצפון ולדרום, דרך השלום מגלוסקא למערב@SivanSisay pic.twitter.com/gsS7DgqTh5

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 4, 2023

Tel Aviv Municipality later said in a statement that “there was a lot of soil erosion” and that following an evaluation a decision was made to completely seal off Hashalom Road from the corner of Yigal Alon in Tel Aviv to the corner of Yitzhak Rabin Road in Givatayim — a distance of around 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) — including all streets crossing the thoroughfare.

The public has been asked to avoid the area, including pedestrians.

Municipal sources told Channel 12 that some of the roads will remain closed until Saturday at least.

בולען ענק בדרך השלום ת"א, וכן צינור מים שהתפוצץ מעבודות בשטח. שאו בדרכים חלופיות.. pic.twitter.com/V88y0JlKWe

— ☚????????✡ מוֹן, דָּנִיאֵל מוֹן ✡????????☛ (@fvR6KfG7JChnun6) January 4, 2023