Sinkhole disrupts downtown Halifax traffic
No reports of damaged vehicles or other accidents
HALIFAX — HRM workers are waiting for dry weather to return before filling in a small depression that has formed on Barrington Street.
Some traffic lanes were closed on Wednesday afternoon at the Barrington, Cornwallis and Upper Water Street intersection after the municipality issued a press release stating motorists should be cautious due to a “sinkhole forming” in the road.
The two-foot depression in the asphalt also broke a sewer line underneath the street, but Halifax Water spokesman James Campbell said they are not sure if the 24-inch line was active or abandoned.
“We’ll make repairs, dig up the pipe and see what’s going on,” said Campbell.
By 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, the depression was covered by a steel plate and traffic returned to normal.
Although Campbell said there were no reports of damaged cars or other accidents in this case, sinkholes have made recent headlines with very serious results.
On Tuesday, a moving car fell into a sinkhole on a highway in Ottawa. The driver was able to climb out to safety, but had his leg treated for a minor injury at the scene.
“It could have been a waterline that had burst,” Campbell said of the Ottawa sinkhole.
“That’s often what it is, a waterline has a catastrophic failure … but it would need to be a very large diameter water pipe."
Also Tuesday, a student drove into an eight foot-deep sinkhole in Durham, N.C. ABC News reports the accident happened because there were no warning signs about the hole.
— Haley Ryan/Metro Halifax