Florida workers use tree limb to plug hole in critical water main

Workers were able to keep the city's water flowing Thursday by using a tree limb as a temporary plug to prevent water from gushing out, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

Workers were able to encase the pipe in concrete to stop the water from escaping.

“I thought they were very resourceful. They needed a quick fix,” Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis told the newspaper.

"The contractor used a wooden plug from a tree," city spokesman Chaz Adams told the Sun-Sentinel.

Rob Hernandez, Fort Lauderdale's deputy city manager, told the newspaper that when wood interacts with water, it “swells up, forming a plug like a cork.”

"The pipe was in good condition other than the area around the hole," Adams told the Sun-Sentinel. "Once the wooden plug was in place, straps were wrapped around the pipe and over the plug to secure it in place."