See scenes from the water main break in this

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The break occurred shortly after 3 a.m. after a construction crew finished rolling the asphalt it had just put in place.

The foreman of the crew said the 10-ton roller had just finished rolling the area when they noticed the ground began to swell.

"It swelled for a few seconds and then the pavement just burst and water went 80 to 100 feet high," said Greg Nathaniel of Jas. W. Glover Ltd., the contractor hired by the city to fix the road. "The roller had no effect on what happened underneath. We always do the surface. I've seen (broken mains) before, but never this big."

The hole in the asphalt and pavement that water was gushing through was at least four feet in diameter. The extreme water pressure littered Ke'eaumoku with several scattered pieces of broken asphalt as the water spouted upward.

Moani Wright-Van Alst, spokeswoman for the Board of Water Supply, said shortly after 4 a.m. that it was a six-inch main that broke and a trouble-shooting crew was working on the main.

"We don't know the extent of the damage yet," she said. "The mauka lanes will have to be closed while we fix it."

The break is right in front of the Like Like Drive Inn, but Wright-Van Alst said its water service hasn't been affected.

Police are on the scene to redirect traffic, but mauka-bound Ke'eaumoku lanes will be shut down between Kanunu and Rycroft streets while repairs are made.