Water main break affects service to Metro Courthouse, Downtown Detention Center

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Water service to areas around the Historic Metro Courthouse has been affected by a water main break at the intersection of James Robertson Parkway and Second Avenue North, Metro Water Services said Tuesday.

Crews are responding to a broken 16-inch water main at the intersection.

“Water was flowing down second avenue. When the crews got here and saw where the actual damage was, we realized it was a 16-inch water main,” said Sonia Allman, Manager of Strategic Communications at Metro Water Services. “We are having to dig very carefully, there are also gas lines, power lines, lots of underground infrastructure as you can imagine. So, we are having to really work carefully and dig around that, so we don’t cause any additional damage.”

The water supply was disrupted to the Metro Courthouse, Justice A.A. Birch Building, Ben West Municipal Building and Nashville Downtown Detention Center. The water outage caused the Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk’s Office to close early.

“We had several cases set today, some for preliminary hearings, and they were all canceled because there could be no business in the courthouse because of the water main break,” attorney David Ridings, who works in the Birch Building, said.

By 3:45 p.m., Metro Water Services had isolated the break and returned water service to the Birch Building, Ben West Municipal Building and the Nashville Downtown Detention Center.

Metro Water Services said all inbound lanes of James Robertson Parkway over the Cumberland River from North First Street to Third Avenue North will be closed while crews excavate and complete repairs. Inbound motorists will be detoured to the Woodland Street Bridge. Second Avenue North is also closed between Gay Street and James Robertson Parkway.

“We anticipate having all repairs and testing of the pipe complete and the road backfilled this evening,” Allman said in a statement.

Metro Water Services outage map

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