Rush-hour traffic came to a grinding halt yesterday as water from a burst main flooded one of Bermuda's busiest roads.

The Watlington Waterworks pipe cracked early yesterday morning, spewing water onto Harbour Road.

Commuters caught up in the tailbacks were at least an hour late for work and Police had to set up diversions during the day as workmen corrected the problem.

And in the evening traffic tailed back into Hamilton as the road re-opened too late for the evening rush-hour.

One frustrated motorist, caught in traffic in the morning, said: "It was a nightmare. I was stuck in one parish for an hour.

"People were getting really frustrated and doing U-turns to try and find an alternative route.'' Watlington Waterworks president Allan Rance said a 20-foot length of pipe on Harbour Road near Red Hole boatyard cracked, allowing water to gush out, pushing asphalt up and spewing water onto the road.

"It's difficult to say what caused it to split,'' added Mr. Rance. "Pipes are subject to tremors and vibrations from vehicles.

"I imagine what happened is that the pipe developed a flaw which with the vibrations manifested itself into a massive crack.'' He said the road had to be closed and about 20 households were affected by the burst main which closed the road until about 5.45 p.m. yesterday.

"Our crews were there at about 8 a.m. and worked extremely hard to put it right to try and open the road for when people were going home. The crews put in a hard day's work,'' said Mr. Rance.