BANGOR, Maine — A construction crew will dig up a portion of Main Street in downtown Bangor Thursday night to replace a collapsed sewer line that forced a popular restaurant to shut down two weeks ago.
Umami Noodle Bar closed late last month after discovering that the 6-inch sewer line that connects the business to the city’s brick sewer main under Main Street broke. The business has been closed for 16 days.
It could still be several days before the business can reopen, however, according to Jeremy Abbott, co-owner of the business.
Thornton Construction of Milford has a permit to dig up a portion of Main Street starting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday night, according to City Engineer John Theriault.
Crews believe the line broke a few feet into the road, according to Theriault. If the break is farther into Main Street than expected, workers will be allowed to shut down the lane closest to Umami and reroute traffic.
After digging the hole and replacing the broken section of the connection, crews will fill the hole in and cover it with metal until it can be paved over Friday. Crews should be off site early Friday morning if all goes well, Theriault said.
The city is responsible for the main brick line, which dates back to 1871, but not the connections that attach buildings and homes to those lines. Those are the responsibility of property owners.
Abbott said the work was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was delayed by rain. On Wednesday, heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic resulting from a pair of major concerts in Bangor delayed the work again. On Thursday, after learning the work would be done overnight, Abbott said he hoped to reopen Friday evening, but learned from Code Enforcement later that afternoon that more work needed to be done.
When the sewer line broke, plumbers rerouted the flow from a second-floor studio apartment through a second sewer connection, which serviced other apartment units in the building. After the broken line is repaired, a plumber will have to come back to route that second-floor apartment back through the repaired line. Abbott said that could take some time, as the plumber may have to get another permit. The restaurant can’t reopen until that’s done, he said.
Umami employees, who have been out of work for more than two weeks, also will need to do a lot of prep work before the restaurant can bring in customers again. Food stocks will need to be resupplied, broths remade and the entire space cleaned after going unused for so long.
“I want to thank our customers for being very patient and understanding,” Abbott said.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.