A sinkhole that opened up in Highway 101 at Ocean Avenue on July 20 has now been fixed by the District of Sechelt.
The source of the sinkhole was a rusty storm sewer pipe that leaked and caused erosion of the soil under the surface of the pavement, according to Sechelt Mayor John Henderson.
"What we discovered was apparently sometime in the 1980s there was a problem and the repair was a metal pipe that was inserted between two larger cement pipes," Henderson said, adding that fix was meant to be temporary. "So what happened after, whatever it's been, 30 years let's say, the pipe apparently rusted and as a result started washing away the surrounding soil, and that led to the sinkhole."
District of Sechelt crews removed the rusty pipe and replaced it with a larger plastic one before fixing the sinkhole last week.
"What it highlights for us is the need to really monitor our infrastructure, whether it's wastewater, storm water or any of the other things like quality of roads. This is the familiar story that we've been talking about for quite some time, the overwhelming requirement for infrastructure funding to make the repairs and replacements needed," Henderson said. "That's sort of the bigger story than the fact that we had one small pipe that rusted out and we've fixed it and it's all filled in and we move on. But in terms of what it signifies to me and to council, it just highlights the importance of devoting resources, and a lot more resources than any municipality has, so we can manage and maintain our infrastructure adequately."
