An eight-inch diameter sewer main collapsed Friday morning, resulting in the closure of Hwy. 16 in the city limits.

Repairs could take until Wednesday, said Don Pierce, the city’s waste water supervisor.

The collapse was reported to the Tomah Police Department at 7:45 a.m.

The affected pipeline is 18 feet below ground and no sewage leaked onto the road, Pierce said. Crews will set up a bypass while they work on the broken pipe, which serves the southwest part of the city.

The work will be difficult because of the pipe’s depth and relatively high groundwater in the area, Pierce said.

“It’s not going to be an easy problem to fix,” he said.

A section of the highway approximatley 75 feet long and 50 feet wide was cut to work on the pipe. The blacktop was cut away on Friday, and a dewater system was put in place. The pipe was worked on over the weekend.

“Hopefully by next week we will have it blacktopped,” Pierce said Friday. “If everything works good, this is a pretty good plan. But there are no guarantees what we will find when we get down there.”

As a result of the road closure the following detours will be implemented until further notice:

*State Highway 16/E. Clifton Street — Westbound traffic will be detoured on Hollister Avenue to Goose Avenue, and the back onto State Highway 16.

*State Highway 16 — Eastbound traffic will be detoured onto Goose Avenue to Center Drive, and then to State Highway 131.

*County Trunk Highway CM — Eastbound traffic on CTH CM will be detoured onto Butts Avenue.

Tomah Journal staff reporter Paul Medinger contributed to this report.