Repairs begin at last on huge sinkhole at Moraga intersection
Construction crews began repairing a massive sinkhole Monday that swallowed a large portion of sidewalk in Moraga almost a year and a half ago.
A storm in March 2016 created the sinkhole — 15 feet wide, 20 feet long and 15 feet deep — at the busy intersection of Rheem Boulevard and Center Street.
Town officials said Monday that fixing the crater will cost $3 million. Last month, Moraga officials declared a fiscal emergency after dipping into reserve funds to help pay for it.
Edric Kwan, Moraga’s public works director, said the town also requested federal funding for repairs. Now, $1.3 million in federal funding has come through, so on Monday, construction crews began moving equipment and material to the site, setting up detour and construction signs, and working on traffic control.
The repair project will require crews to tear up the intersection and work around pipes underneath.
“There’s a whole spaghetti bowl of utilities all around there,” Kwan said. “So it’s complicated.”
The intersection will remain closed for the duration of the project, which is set to finish by mid-October and before the
rainy season.
The sinkhole appeared on March 13, 2016, after several days of heavy rain.
Soil eroded around a storm drain pipe, which created a large cavity underneath the street. Without reinforcement, the area collapsed, taking with it a traffic signal pole and a PG&E electrical switch vault.
The collapse also ruptured a 4-inch gas line, prompting the temporary evacuation of two nearby shopping centers.
Town officials say they will repair the pipe with reinforced concrete. Then crews will backfill the area with soil, replace the traffic signal and repair the sidewalks.
The sinkhole has since remained largely untouched as the town waited for federal emergency funding.
In addition to the sinkhole on Rheem Boulevard, Moraga has seen smaller sinkholes throughout town that have damaged other storm drains. Kwan said drain repairs will cost no less than $26 million.
The sinkholes aren’t the only natural disasters to hit Moraga. In April, engineers from the East Bay Municipal Utility District noticed cracks in the 81-year-old Canyon Road bridge over Moraga Creek and closed it indefinitely. The bridge carried 6,000 cars a day.
Officials set aside $5 million from Moraga’s reserve funds to pay for the bridge and the big sinkhole. With only $1.5 million left in its reserve fund, Moraga declared a fiscal emergency on June 28, said Amy Cunningham, director of administrative services.
The declaration will allow the town to hold a special election and ask voters to approve a tax measure on a majority vote if they choose to, according to Michael Coleman, fiscal policy adviser for the League of California Cities.