Jul 21, 2008 3:26 pm US/Eastern
Timonium Sinkhole Causes Traffic Woes
TIMONIUM, Md. (WJZ) ―
A water main break that caused a major sinkhole at the intersection of Ridgely and York Roads in Timonium has been fixed.
Mary Bubala reports though the water main is fixed, several lanes of York Road are still closed just north of the Beltway.
Crews at York Rd. battled intense heat and worked to fix the huge water main break.
Thousands of gallons of water rushed out of a broken 12-inch steel pipe at noon Saturday.
Even though it's in the county, Baltimore City's Department of Public Works is responsible for fixing the pipe, which they have done.
Now, the county is working to repair the asphalt that crumbled around it.
Two lanes of York Road are shut down as they stabilize the ground filling in the sinkhole.
The repairs could slow traffic for the next several days.
"It basically washes all the dirt that's below the surface, so you have vehicles driving over. That's loosening it up some more," said Kurt Kocher, Department of Public Works.
When the main broke, the gushing mud and water flowed into the Yorkridge Shopping Center.
"It had gone from being over in the corner of our parking lot to our back door," said Justin Shifflett.
"My client called me and told me about the claim, and I live so close by, I thought I would come by and check it out," said Debbie Minter who insures the building.
The area has seen problems in the past with broken mains. The first priority to making the fix is safety because of the unstable ground.
There are also a number of utility lines to be aware of, but BGE says despite the mess, there are no outages associated with the break.
"The gentleman down the hallway, he's emptied out 270 gallons of water," said one worker.
"We've got carpet, so it's kind of in the carpet. Maybe about an inch or two. Just a mess," said Shawn Wills, Mail Boxes Etc.
County crews have been filling the rest of the hole and hope to have the lanes reopened for rush hour Tuesday morning.
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