Parked car falls into hole formed when old water pipe breaks

MANCHESTER, N.H. – A major water main break has opened up several holes on a New Hampshire street, and a parked car has fallen into one of them.

WMUR-TV reports the empty car was lifted out of the hole in Manchester just before 9 a.m. Wednesday. Officials say the water pipe broke just after 5 a.m.

The pipe has been there since 1888.

Manchester Water Works engineering technician John St. Pierre says he thinks a temperature change at nearby Lake Massabesic caused the cast-iron main to break. The lake provides drinking water for the city, where temperatures have increased about 20 degrees in the last day or so.

The city has about 43 miles (69 kilometres) of cast-iron pipes dating to the 1930s and earlier. It has a program in place to maintain about 4 to 5 miles (6 to 8 kilometres) of pipe per year.

___

Information from: WMUR-TV, http://wmur.com