Burst water pipe causes flash flood and road damage in Mount Maunganui

The damaged road. Photo / Supplied

A section of road has been significantly damaged after a burst pipe caused flash flooding in Mount Maunganui yesterday afternoon.

A Westhaven Motel staff member said the pipe had burst on The Mall near the intersection of Prince St with floodwaters reaching almost as high as car doors in places.

The staff member told the Bay of Plenty Times a section of The Mall was still down to one lane this morning and part of the road was "munted".

"Where the leak was, on the beachside of the road, it's all caved in and cracked and lumpy.

"One lane of the road is coned off."

The damaged road. Photo / Supplied

The staff member said during yesterday's flood the water was mostly ankle deep but in some places it reached "halfway up your shins".

"There was a lot of water. It was very strange, in all my time being here I hadn't known a pipe to burst like that."

Tauranga City Council Network Operations leader Phil Consedine said the waterpipe leak break had been resolved and the resulting damage to the road pavement and surface assessed.

"The damage to the road includes loss of subsurface materials and broken surfacing resulting in a degradation of the strength of the base layers of the road.

"A full road repair is required and the work will begin on Monday after the pavement dries out, from the saturated state that it is in today. The period required to complete the repair is about five days and this is conditional on the weather being mostly fine," he said.

Consedine said currently there was a partial closure of the road, however there was sufficient room for traffic to pass in both directions.

"As work proceeds, there is likely to be periods of time where a full road closure is needed for the repair work. There is signage to guide motorists."