Moncton sinkhole caused by water main break
A sinkhole in Moncton at the intersection of Elmwood Drive and Caledonia Road was caused by a water main break, city officials say.
Repairs are expected to be completed by Wednesday night, said Don Morehouse, the city's director of public works.
Crews discovered the problem as they excavated the area, said Morehouse. The water main break caused the pavement to settle and erode, he said.
Roads are currently at their weakest state as frost comes out of the pavement and saturates it with water, said Morehouse.
"We do notice a lot more, obviously, road break-up occurring. So sinkholes are part of what we see around structures, especially like a manhole structure. Sometimes you'll see a cavity occurring, so we do monitor, we keep an eye on it," he said.
"There has been a lot of water main breaks this winter so there have been a lot of excavations that have created a lot of large — I wouldn't call them potholes — actually areas that are pretty rough to drive through, so those are the ones we're going after first and then we'll continue on with our annual spring patching program."
'It's treacherous'
Potholes are springing up everywhere in the city and some repairs, such as one in front of Champlain Place, aren't holding up.
It's a challenging time for motorists, like Daniel LeBlanc.
"Well it's treacherous right? So you try as best you can, but you're constantly dodging traffic and just trying to make your way to work so it's pretty bad," he said.
Jon Kimmel agrees. "It's a nightmare and it's only going to get worse," he said.
"I mean with the winter we had, and all the salt and icing we had, I can't believe that there are any roads left. It's pretty much all potholes."
Gary Pierson says he's lucky because he drives a big truck with big tires. But his wife's car hasn't been so lucky.
It "has hit a few [potholes] along the way — sounds you don't like to hear when you're going over them."
The crater at Elmwood Drive and Caledonia Road disrupted traffic much of the day, with motorists being asked to avoid the industrial area.
There was a lane reduction at the intersection. Traffic on Caledonia Road, between MacNaughton Avenue and Elmwood Drive, was also affected, with truck traffic being limited in the area.
Traffic control personnel were on site.
