A water main break flooded Lot 80 last night, causing a sinkhole to open up in the Orange A parking lot. Officials towed about 20 cars away from the hole, which grew to span two parking spaces.

Ralph Johnson, a director of operations for the Office of Physical Plant, said the water was turned off at 9:30 p.m., about an hour after the break. The broken line was the main feed from the golf field that goes to the water towers, he said.

The cars were moved to the western end of the lot in preparation for the arrival of a backhoe for digging out the hole in order to find the site of the leak.

"We're moving cars out of the way, one, to protect them, and two, to bring in digging equipment," Johnson said.

The water ran across Bigler Road toward East Halls, causing the road to be closed between Curtin Road and Park Avenue for a time. It was reopened in time for the end of last night's Billy Joel and Elton John concert at the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State Police Services Supervisor Tom Sowerby said many of the owners of the towed cars were thought to be concertgoers.

Guy Woodard, OPP water services supervisor, said the broken pipe was six feet underground, and nobody lost water service.

"We're very fortunate that we don't have anybody off (of water services)," Woodard said.

A small crowd of students stood out in the cold watching the events, while others headed back to their dorm rooms. East Halls resident Ian Anderson (freshman-industrial engineering) was biking through the parking lot shortly after the water main broke and soon found himself in six inches of water.

"I saw it was like this massive flood and I was right in the middle of it," Anderson said.

The hole started in between two parking spaces, and gradually became wider, as more pieces of asphalt fell in. OPP erected barriers around the area, blocking off more space as the night went on due to concerns the lot would continue to cave in.

Mud and rocks covered Bigler Road, leading OPP to believe that the sediment had been washed from under the parking lot. OPP was equipped to spread material on the road to keep it from freezing and expected to find and repair the leak overnight.

"We have something like 50 miles of water line . . . couple that with old pipe and things like this can happen," Woodard said. "Hydraulic force can be impressive."