Sinkholes addressed
Construction Foreman Jayson Farley, Skilled Laborer Jacob Miller and Lead Operator Bill Bpyce are on the scene where a sinkhole had formed on a Tenth Street corner. Before putting all the pieces back together, the workers make sure the casting atop the sump is level. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
On First Avenue South, a large hole is seen. It was dug on Tuesday to enable access to a sanitary sewer line following the appearance of a sinkhole in the area. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
At the corner of First Avenue South and 10th Street, a crew from the City of Escanaba Department of Public Works replaces a sump that had collapsed and formed a sinkhole. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Construction Foreman Jayson Farley, Skilled Laborer Jacob Miller and Lead Operator Bill Bpyce are on the scene where a sinkhole had formed on a Tenth Street corner. Before putting all the pieces back together, the workers make sure the casting atop the sump is level. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
On First Avenue South, a large hole is seen. It was dug on Tuesday to enable access to a sanitary sewer line following the appearance of a sinkhole in the area. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
At the corner of First Avenue South and 10th Street, a crew from the City of Escanaba Department of Public Works replaces a sump that had collapsed and formed a sinkhole. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Trending
ESCANABA — Portions of roads were closed in the city on Tuesday outside of the areas slated for lead line replacements and other ordered work. Sinkholes had formed in a few places beneath Escanaba’s streets, and crews from city departments were sent to tackle them.
Near the southwest corner of the intersection of 10th Street and First Avenue South, one sinkhole had been marked by progressively more traffic cones over the last couple weeks. By mid-morning on Tuesday, the City of Escanaba Department of Public Works (DPW) had torn up the pavement near the storm drain and were replacing the “barrel,” as one worker put it. DPW Director Kent Dubord explained that while his team was working on the storm sewer, other city departments were handling different tasks nearby.
“Whenever a sinkhole pops up, you know, obviously it’s a concern … with Public Works, we deal with the roadway and storm sewer, and then Wastewater deals with sanitary, and Water deals with water main,” he said.
At the 10th and First corner, Dubord said, the sump underneath the catch basin had deteriorated and needed to be replaced. Less than a block to the east on First Avenue South, an even larger hole was dug in the middle of the roadway on Tuesday as a Wastewater crew tried to identify the source of a sinkhole near the sanitary sewer line.
At least two additional sinkholes elsewhere in town — including at Fifth Avenue and Ninth Street and at 10th Avenue and 21st Street — are also on the city’s radar and will be reworked this week. Dubord said that blacktop in those areas will be put down on Friday.
When asked what caused the sinkholes: “Just deterioration over time between water and salt and debris and sand and rock,” the DPW director replied, “and anything else that goes through the catch basin. As time goes on, eventually, they just outlive their lifespan.”