City crews continuing work to extend a natural gas line on Paxton Road hit an unmarked waterline Thursday morning.

When workers struck the waterline, it broke, interrupting service to Culkin Water District customers along Highway 27 and Paxton Road. Those affected included Warren Central High School, River City Early College High School, Beechwood Elementary School and Hinds Community College Vicksburg Campus.

Culkin Water District officials said the outage lasted about 90 minutes and impacted an estimated 50 customers.

Assistant city gas supervisor Eddie Henderson said the break was on the north side of the railroad tracks toward Hinds.

“The city installed a gas line under the track three months ago and the crew attempting to connect the gas line with the line under the track,” Henderson said. “A track hoe digging the trench for the gas line hit the waterline.”

Since water service was interrupted, the Vicksburg Warren School District decided to dismiss the affected schools early.

Warren Central and River City Early College were dismissed at 11 a.m., while Beechwood, which was in the middle of serving lunch at the time of the water disruption, dismissed at 11:30 a.m. The district also canceled career technical classes at Hinds that were scheduled for Thursday.

 

Tim Reeves, editor of The Vicksburg Post, contributed to this story.