PHOTOS Crews hand-dig to free coupling larger image Coupling nearly extracted larger image Workers prepare to hoist the coupling larger image Ready for transport to lab larger image

Digging by hand, crews have successfully unearthed half of the coupling involved in the May 1, 2010 water main break.

At 3:30 p.m. today, the 15-foot section was lifted from the work pit and transported directly to a laboratory for analysis.

The other half of the coupling, which was attached to the first section by a single bolt, is still buried deep under a water pipe. Engineers are assessing options for the safe retrieval of this section.