Photo Credit: Athens-Clarke County Water Conservation Office

Yes, that's raw sewage. Hug a Public Utilities worker today.

Athens-Clarke County workers have repaired 150 feet of clogged sewer line on Broad Street downtown—for now.

The Public Utilities Department finished temporarily patching up the sewer line late Wednesday night, but a permanent fix wasn’t possible because of a rainstorm coming through Athens, PUD Director Gary Duck said. Workers will have to go back in, probably early next week, Duck said.

“We’re going to need several days of good, clear weather,” Duck said.

The line got clogged when someone dumped in cement—or more accurately, Duck said, some type of grout-like substance. Although it’s fairly common for cement to be dumped into the sewer through manholes, in this particular case Duck believes someone accessed a sewer stub from inside a downtown building where construction is going on.

They don’t know who yet, but ACC will investigate it as part of the permanent repairs tentatively planned for next week, Duck said.

The repairs forced the closure of several lanes on Broad Street Wednesday, backing up traffic around the Hull and Pulaski street intersections.