Pipes near the main domestic water line feeding Bragaw Residence Hall ruptured Wednesday at about 8:25 p.m., according to Campus Police officers who arrived on the scene shortly after the leak became noticeable.

Lt. Martin Moody of Campus Police said a student called in and reported the leak, prompting several officers to come to the scene to direct traffic and keep students away from the leak.

“Somebody was driving by, saw this and called us,” he said.

The leak, which occurred under the sidewalk running along Dan Allen Drive in front of Bragaw, caused water to spill into the road and flow south towards Cates Avenue. Campus Police stopped cars attempting to turn right onto Dan Allen Drive from Cates Avenue and also blocked cars at the intersection of Dan Allen Drive and Thurman Drive.

Water ran out of the ruptured line for a little more than one hour, filling up half of the southbound lane of Dan Allen Drive and making it difficult for students to walk between Bragaw and the opposite side of the street. At around 9:30 p.m., Utilities and Engineering Service Technician Malcolm Lair shut off the water line and stopped the leak, leaving Bragaw without water.

Fire Marshall Bill Stevenson, who arrived on the scene after police officers, said the main concern was to find out what the problem was and to keep students safe.

“We wanted to secure the immediate site for safety purposes,” he said. “When you have a water leak underground, it eats away the ground, which can potentially collapse the street or the sidewalk. Also, we have to worry about providing water to the building.”

Samantha Ackerly, a junior in paper science and engineering and resident adviser in Bragaw, said Resident Adviser staff members in the building began letting students know about the situation with the water as soon as they found out about the leak.

“We put up signs and started letting students know the water wasn’t working,” she said.

As of 10:15 p.m., officials at the scene were awaiting the arrival of heavy machinery to dig up the sidewalk and begin repairing the pipe, something Stevenson said could take up to four hours.