ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District crews spent hours filling a large sinkhole with concrete in north St. Louis on Friday.
Heavy rain last weekend led to a major road collapse at the intersection of Blair Avenue and Ferry Street, which caused the crater.
Public Affairs Specialist Sean Stone estimated it would take nearly 200 cubic yards of concrete to fill the hole.
He added that around 20 to 25 feet down where a sewer runs, there had been some deterioration and a hole formed.
Some of the water that would normally go into the system began to spill out. It washed away the ground underneath the road and around it which caused a failure.
Stone emphasized that why a hole might not be this size all the time, they are bound to form due to water and age.
“Some of the infrastructure beneath the city is 150-years-old. Stuff dating back to the Lincoln Administration. That's how old some of this stuff is so things deteriorate with time," Stone said.
MSD has a continuous assessment routine to catch holes around the city before they get too bad.
They run cameras deep in the holes beneath the ground to scope out the condition.
“We had a crew out here on June 3rd and we noticed the deterioration along this manhole, and we were going to be out here next week probably to do a repair. One big rain event is enough that this happens," Stone said.
While the magnitude of a storm may be hard to predict,
the entity is relying on residents to speak up when a problem comes up.
There is still some work to be done by the city.
The gas, sewer, and water lines were all enabling nearby residents to function.
Friday’s work was to ensure safety.
A permanent repair timeline is still to be determined.