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Workers at the Cliffside Park Towne Centre site were raising the crane’s boom after lowering it to the street on Anderson Avenue to repair a sensor when the weight shifted, Bergen County Executive James Tedesco said a short time after the 7:30 incident.
That crushed the underground main, the county executive said.
Water poured south for blocks, some of it flooding area homes and businesses, before United Water shut it off.
Cliffside Park Mayor Thomas Calabrese at the scene (ALL: CLIFFVIEW PILOT PHOTOS)
Then came the matter of removing the crane, which also damaged part of the street.
An independent expert was being brought in to determine how to do that, Mayor Thomas Calabrese told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
“United Water has to do its work. PSE&G has to do its work,” he said.
There were initial fears that the crane would collapse, but those were quickly dismissed.
Troubles were compounded by another break — this one in neighboring Fort Lee at the border of both towns on Columbia and Anderson avenues.
An estimated 36,000 customers altogether were reportedly affected at the worst point.
Tedesco said that as of late this afternoon, 200 customers in the borough were still without water.
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