A section of Route 4 in Phillips is washed away Tuesday afternoon after a beaver dam broke, releasing water from Adley Pond, according to the Maine Department of Transportation. Rangeley Fire Rescue Department photo

PHILLIPS — A beaver dam broke and released a large amount of water from Adley Pond on Tuesday afternoon, washing out part of Route 4, according to the Maine Department of Transportation.

“It resulted in washing out a culvert on a woods road, and then washed out around the culvert on Dill Road, sending water across Route 4,” according to Meghan M. Russo, MDOT’s manager of legislative and constituent services.

The breach occurred during a downpour. The shoulder and part of a travel lane on Route 4 were washed away, as was the entrance to Dill Road, a town road, according to Russo.

The section of Route 4 was reopened to traffic at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The repair was done by Maine DOT and town crews from Phillips.

“Basically, the town provided the fill material and DOT crews pushed it in and compacted it,” Paul Merrill, DOT spokesperson, wrote in an email Wednesday.

The road was closed for 5 1/2 hours.

Merrill said the damaged area of Route 4 will be paved Friday, after which some slope work will be done.

Water erodes the ground under a utility pole and guardrail along Route 4 in Phillips on Tuesday afternoon. The water was released from Adley Pond after at beaver dam broke. Rangeley Fire Rescue Department photo

Rangeley firefighters came upon the deluge when returning from a meeting in Farmington. They saw a state trooper driving slowly as they came down a hill on Route 4 and then saw a 30- to 40-foot wide rush of water, with logs, branches and other debris eroding a drainage ditch, part of a travel lane and shoulder and washing out culverts, according to Rangeley Fire Rescue Chief Michael Bacon.

He said he and Fire Engineer Harold Schaetzle stopped and could see water under the road.

The trooper and Bacon stopped traffic in both directions.

They could see waves in the road as it started to buckle from the pressure, Bacon said. A lot of Dill Road collapsed, and the ground under a utility pole and guardrail eroded, Bacon said.