City employee discovers sinkhole downtown
Small hole a normal occurrence with aging storm sewer infrastructure; could be a few days to fix
A significant sinkhole emerged downtown Tuesday, affecting the flow of traffic in the area, and it may take a few days before it is all repaired.
The sinkhole was the size of a typical doorway and about three feet deep — at the corner of Fourth Street SE and Sixth Avenue near the bus depot — said Trevor Funk, operations superintendent for municipal works. It was caused by old storm sewer infrastructure collapsing.
“It’s the catch basin and storm sewer pipes. It’s all old. It’s reached the end of its life so we have failures where you have broken pipe and that sort of thing. It’s common when infrastructure reaches the end of its life,” said Funk.
The area was cordoned off Tuesday morning with traffic reduced to a single lane in the area.
A city employee first noticed the sinkhole Monday night and reported the situation.
When a contractor excavated the area, the failing infrastructure of the catch basin and sections of the pipes were more extensive than expected, said Funk. A larger section of pipe will need to be replaced. With the job expected to take longer and a weather forecast of rain, the hole was filled in as a temporary measure to allow traffic to flow in the area.
Depending on the weather, work might continue Thursday. Pipes will be replaced, the road will be rebuilt to its previous level and finished with blacktop, said Funk. This may require the full closure of the road(s) that day.
“We are trying to get it done as quick as possible. If people can avoid the intersection it would be helpful,” said Funk.