PHOENIX -- Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) workers formed a human chain to save a woman from a canal in Gila Bend on Wednesday morning, the transportation authority announced Thursday.

Ray Ruiz, a lead highway operations technician with ADOT, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday that him and his team of five highway maintenance technicians were at an ADOT maintenance yard early Wednesday morning when they heard a sound and decided to investigate.

The co-workers set out in three vehicles and headed towards the canal adjacent to the yard.

When the ADOT workers first arrived, they didn't see anything in the canal but could still hear someone yelling something indistinguishable and continued to search.

"We make our way out about a quarter of a mile ... (and) that's where I see a woman yelling for help, but all I could see was her head," Ruiz said.

The crew jumped into action and five of them formed a human chain -- using a shovel with a belt attached to the end of it to increase their reach -- while Ruiz called 911 to explain the situation.

Ruiz noted that the waterway is not the typical irrigation canal but one meant to carry a vast amount of water.

"It's swift water and you could get pulled under the railroad tracks," Ruiz said in a press release. "Basically, it's a siphon."

Ruiz said the woman grabbed hold of the belt and the five men worked together to pull her out until she was high enough for one of them grab her and pull her the rest of the way to safety.

One of the workers gave her his shirt so she had something dry to wear, ADOT said.

According to ADOT and Ruiz, the 58-year-old woman had fallen into the canal around noon on Tuesday and spent the night clinging to a floating tire next to where the water is forced underground due to railroad tracks.

The workers saved her just before 6 a.m. on Wednesday.

Ruiz said the entire rescue took place in about 10 minutes and a Maricopa County Sheriff's deputy arrived right after, followed shortly by the Gila Bend Fire Department.

"It's one of those things where if we dismiss the noise that early in the morning, it's like someone's life could be dismissed real quick," Ruiz said. "We're not water rescue folks, but everyone came together ... jumped into action and a woman's life was saved."

In addition to Ruiz, the ADOT workers who helped in the rescue were John Gardner, Antonio Trejo Martinez, Salvador Mata Jr., Larry Ortega and David Robledo.