ST. LOUIS – A large sinkhole in Dogtown was not caused by a water main break, as previously thought, but rather a collapsed sewer pipe, according to the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District.
“The pipe, which is old, has taken in some debris over time; water, pressure that got in during those storms on Sunday probably just made it give up,” said Sean Stone, an MSD spokesman.
Stone said crews have gone 12-feet down and located the pipe. The next step is to find out how much of the pipe needs to be cut out and replaced.
But there’s no sign of a water main break, Stone said. MSD initially thought it was the cause of the sewer collapse, as responding crews saw water coming up.
“We got a couple calls from customers in the area indicating there had been some back up, so we knew that there was likely a problem with the sewer main as well,” Stone said.
Dogtown resident Morgan Mayberry said she was running an errand Tuesday morning and drove right over it. When she came back, that’s when she saw the damage.
But she said crews seem to be making good progress.
“I feel like people have been here constantly, which is cool. So, yeah, I mean the sooner the better, obviously, for the neighborhood,” she said.
Stone said they found bad soil conditions as well.
“There has been someone making repairs in this section of the street where our pipe is previously, so we’ve got a lot of loose, sandy stuff that wants to fall in on us,” he said.
Crews with MSD will continue their work to repair this sinkhole, and they expect it to be completed by the end of the week.