Construction repair crews were busy fixing a massive sinkhole recently after an overflow main broke away and undermined the sub-base of SE Marine Drive in Vancouver.
VANCOUVER
Construction repair crews were busy fixing a massive sinkhole recently after an overflow main broke away and undermined the sub-base of SE Marine Drive in Vancouver.
The sinkhole opened in the eastbound lane on Dec. 12.
“There was…an overflow main about 30 feet down, and it looks like perhaps it broke away and the water started to take away the sub-base,” said Murray Wightman, manager of street operations for the City of Vancouver.
“As a result of the sub-base being removed, the weight of the road, including eight inches of asphalt and a two-foot concrete base, lost support.
“It caved in and fell on a 12-inch water line and a three-inch gas line. Then the rest of the road fell in.”
The sinkhole was about 30 feet by about 15 feet wide and about 20 feet deep.
Both the gas and water lines had to be shut off.
There were no injuries or damage to vehicles, but there was extensive damage to the road and to the utilities underneath.
A further 10 feet of pavement was undermined on the north side of the hole.
Construction crews from the city, Metro Vancouver and Terasen Gas were on the site to make repairs.
The overflow watermain was scheduled to be repaired first, Wightman said, followed by the 12-inch main and then the gas line and the road surface.
Crews were to remove the broken pavement from the sinkhole, repair the sewer, water and gas lines, fill the hole with earth that was washed away and repave the surface.
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