PORTSMOUTH – HRSD crews and contractors have completed emergency repairs on the failed 30-inch sewer force main on Douglas Avenue near Rolfe Terrace. A 40-foot section of the pipeline has successfully been replaced and is now back in service. With this, around-the-clock pump and haul operations have concluded.

HRSD crews and contractors have worked nonstop since Tuesday evening to make repairs and clean up as much of the spill material as possible.

Motorists and residents will continue to experience traffic impacts as crews begin working to backfill the excavation site and restore Douglas Avenue between Wesley Street and Rolfe Terrace. This work will begin Saturday and will be conducted during daytime working hours only. There will be no work scheduled on Sunday, and Douglas Avenue is expected to reopen as early as end of day on Monday, August 10. Due to the significant disturbance on Douglas Avenue from the sewage overflow and construction activities, contractors will not apply the final pavement surface for at least two weeks.

The total spill volume was estimated to be approximately 3.1 million gallons. HRSD continues coordination efforts with the City of Portsmouth, the Virginia Department of Health, the Department of Environmental Quality, and the residents impacted by the incident as remediation and restoration efforts continue.

For more information, please visit the Department of Environmental Quality’s Douglas Avenue Sewer Main Failure web page.

About HRSD: HRSD is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia created by public referendum in 1940 and currently serves 20 cities and counties in southeast Virginia and the Eastern Shore, an area with a population of 1.9 million.

###