A 20-foot-deep sinkhole opened under Horton Street in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday afternoon along a trouble-plagued sewer/stormwater line where a major construction project was set to begin, city officials said.
A Stell Enterprises water tanker truck that was parked on the street ahead of the $600,000 emergency repair project partially fell into the hole. It was unoccupied and no injuries were reported.
Horton Street is expected to be closed between Carey Avenue and Barney Street for several days at least, Mayor George Brown said.
"It might even be weeks, just so you know that," Brown said during a press briefing nearby with fire, police, DPW and PennDOT officials.
Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney said water and gas services to the nearby Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre were operating normally, but services closer to the break had been temporarily shut down following the street collapse.
"It was very tense in the beginning, because there were some natural gas leaks, water leaks," Delaney said of the collapse, which was reported at 5:41 p.m.
"We were concerned about the integrity of the neighborhood and the hospital. We had a fire company over there to make sure the water was flowing, the sewage is flowing," Delaney said.
"There's no issues whatsoever with the hospital," he added. "What we want to let the neighborhood know here is that their gas service has been returned and the power will not go off. So those folks who have oxygen devices and other things, they'll all be unaffected."
Delaney said only one property was temporarily evacuated "so everyone else is OK to stay here." Electric and gas crews examined the area "and gave us a clean bill of health," he said.
The water tanker truck was towed out of the hole at about 7:35 p.m.
Brown said there would be a police presence in the neighborhood overnight, and gas company crews also would be working into the night.
"There'll be a lot of work going on during the evening," Brown added.
56-inch line collapsed
Officials said they did not believe the collapse was related to mine subsidence.
Department of Public Works Supervisor David Lewis said the 56-inch terra cotta sewer/stormwater line under the street collapsed, causing the hole. That also caused drainage to back up throughout the system. The line under Horton Street drains a large area of the city.
Work to relieve pressure on the system and bypass the broken line was underway and would resume with excavation early Thursday, Lewis said.
The heatwave of recent days was broken Wednesday afternoon by an intense thunderstorm that moved through the region. Lewis believed that stormwater caused the break, but he also felt the damage may have been cumulative.
"I'm with the city 20 years, and in the last two years we've seen torrential rains here that caused instant flooding," Lewis said.
Some of the terra cotta lines are between 100 and 145 years old, officials said.
"Stell will be working in the area starting tomorrow, and there'll be a heavy presence of construction people working here," Brown said.
Officials said residents should have road access to their homes, but through traffic will be prohibited.
PennDOT said a detour will be put in place for other traffic. That includes the many tractor-trailer trucks which use the street traveling to and from industrial parks in the area.
