(Aurora, Ind.) - A large sewer main break caused a big, stinky problem for Aurora Utilities Thursday evening.

At about 7:00, the main beneath the eastbound lanes of US 50 just east of Sunnyside Avenue ruptured, filling the ground beneath the pavement with sewage that eventually pushed through to the surface.  The line carries sewage to the South Dearborn Regional Sewer District plant along Tanners Creek in Lawrenceburg.

According to Aurora Utilities Superintendent Randy Turner, somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 gallons of sewage leaked out before crews dug down to the main and clamped the ruptured pipe. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management will be notified of the incident Friday said Turner.

The eastbound lanes of US 50 had to be shut down for nearly four hours as crews made the repairs. A mix of gravel and asphalt was used to temporarily fix the portion of highway that had been dug up to ease the Friday morning commute. Crews will be back on scene at about 8:30 a.m. to make permanent repairs to the road.

Turner said the sewer pipe originally installed in 1972 has had other recent troubles, particularly near Billingsley Drive where an eroding slip along US 50 has caused the line to shift.

The City of Aurora is hoping to replace the current sewage line with a new one that would run along, not beneath US 50 to the SDRSD plant. That project, however, hinges on whether the city obtains a $7.9 million federal Rural Development loan from the United States Department of Agriculture which the city would have to match with $2.5 million.