Chicago Sinkhole Swallows Street

A 14-foot sinkhole opened on a residential street on Chicago’s South Side on Sunday, most likely caused by a broken water main. Facebook

Where Did Chicago’s Street Go?

Monday morning Chicago’s south side resident’s woke up wondering where did their street go?
Apparently Sunday night, a large sinkhole developed swallowing part of 124th Street and Wentworth.

Chicago’s water department in a statement said that because of an underground water main break, the earth slowly gave way, opening up a sinkhole that gradually kept getting larger and larger.
The city’s water crews were forced to shut off the water in a two block radius to try to control the massive flooding and sinkhole.

While crews worked to repair the broken water main, residents were also discovering that some of their basements held as much as two feet of water in them. This along with a gigantic sinkhole out front that measured 20 feet by 80 feet.

Unfortunately for Chicago’s south side residents, work crews have to enlarge the sinkhole to get not only to the water main, but to also remove a fourteen foot tree that was washed into the hole.

Chicago’s Deputy Commissioner of the Water Department Bill Bresnahan, stated that he hopes to have water restored to the area’s residents by the end of the day, and the main fully repaired by the end of the week.

“Depending on what’s underneath it, we’re hoping by the end of the week we should have the street repaired,” said Bresnahan. “We will have water on to these people before we leave here, hopefully by the end of the day.”

It is believed that the sinkhole is a result of a small, ongoing leak in the house’s basement.

On The Web:

Chicago sinkhole threatens South Side home
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/chicago_news&id=9321539