The break occurred around 7:00 a.m. on a 24-inch transmission main in the 8500 block of State Road, near Pennypack Road, running parallel to I-95 in the city's Holmesburg section.
The pressure acted as a geyser, pushing water at least 100 feet into the air.
"It was like a wall of water, you couldn't even see through it," said truck driver Earl Brown. "It was like a fountain."
The water gushed for more than an hour before the water department finally shut it off.
The JPC Construction crew was working on a project for the Philadelphia Water Department. It was using an auger to dig, hitting the main square on the top.
It's unclear if the location of the water main was marked before digging commenced.
A spokesperson for the water department would only say "they made a mistake."
