91视频

Work was halted for a couple of hours Tuesday at the Block 216 construction site in downtown Portland after a crew hit a natural gas line, a fire bureau official said.

The gas line was on Southwest Alder Street between Ninth and 10th avenues, next to the Galleria building, Battalion Chief Scott Beyers said.

No injuries were reported.

Crews were attempting to access a vault that contains a valve to shut off the gas, Beyers said. Emergency responders were waiting on keys to access the vault.

The gas line break occurred at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Alder and Washington streets were closed to vehicle traffic. None of the nearby buildings were evacuated, Beyers said.

鈥淔rom everything we can tell, (the gas) is escaping into the atmosphere,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s not migrating as best we can tell.鈥�

Fire and NW Natural officials were monitoring the airborne gas reading in neighboring buildings.

Work resumed around 1 p.m., and streets were reopened.

Construction crews are performing shoring and excavation work for the Block 216 tower, a 35-story building for BPM Real Estate Group. Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company, is the general contractor.