WASA begins repairing leak that caused St James sinkhole

Black Immigrant Daily News

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WASA employees pump out water from a ten-foot-wide sinkhole on the Western Main Road, St James, on Tuesday evening. – Angelo Marcelle

The front left wheel of a car went into a sinkhole in the road which opened up opposite Courts in St James on Tuesday.

The hole, which was about ten feet wide and four and a half feet deep, had water pouring out of it into the canal on the west-bound side of the road.

In a press release, the Water and Sewerage Authority said a leak developed on a 16-inch diameter transmission pipeline and undermined a portion of the road. Emergency repair work was scheduled from 6 pm on Tuesday to 6 am on Wednesday.

It said customers in parts of St James and environs would experience a disruption in their water supply during the repairs and up to 24 hours after the work was completed.

When Newsday visited the area, vendors said water started to bubble up out of cracks in the street at the corners of Western Main Road and Benares Street around 6 am. The cracks widened, raising and breaking up the pitch as the day progressed.

They said it was some time between 2 pm and 3 pm when the wagon unsuccessfully tried to swerve from the damaged piece of road, when the left front wheel drove over the cracks and the hole opened up. The car was removed soon after with the help of the police.

Cones and tape were placed around the hole to prevent further accidents, and around 4 pm, two employees of the Port of Spain City Corporation visited the scene to assess the situation.

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