Swedesford Road Reopens After Sewer Main Break [Corrected]

Correction 5/24/13, 9 a.m.: The original article incorrectly stated that the damaged sewer pipes are owned and maintained by Aqua Pennsylvania. In fact, East Whiteland Township maintains the roughly 30 miles of underground sanitary sewers in the municipality. The error was due to my misunderstanding part of an email from township manager Terry Woodman, who stated that water supply pipes are owned and maintained by Aqua Pennsylvania. 

The text below has been changed to reflect this correction. We apologize for the error.

Update 5/21/13, 1 p.m.:  Swedesford Road reopened around 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to an email from Terry Woodman.

Original story continues below

Repairs to a sewer main break near the intersection of Swedesford Road and Conestoga Road (Route 401) are expected to be completed Tuesday, according to East Whiteland Township manager Terry Woodman.

Woodman gave details about the repairs in an email to Malvern Patch: 

The pipe that broke is an 18 inch sanitary sewer pipe that connects two manholes, one on the uphill side of Swedesford Road and the second further east/south along Rt. 401.   

A piece of an 8 inch pipe that drains into the uphill manhole also had to be replaced. The contractors have been working to replace the pipes all of last week and should have the job finished by mid day [Tuesday].

According to residents' posts on the Malvern Patch Facebook page, the break occurred May 11, shutting down the street and resulting in a news helicopter circling the neighborhood for about 30 minutes.