A sinkhole that appeared on Highway 101 at Ocean Avenue in Sechelt on July 20 has been filled and patched, and the cause is being investigated.
The hole in the pavement was two and a half feet across and it was about four and a half feet deep and about seven to eight feet across at the bottom, said Don Legault with the Ministry of Transportation and Highways, noting both highways and the District of Sechelt responded to the sinkhole at around 5 p.m. last Saturday.
The Sunshine Coast Regional District was also called to the scene as they have pipes nearby, but it was determined their pipes were not the cause of the sinkhole, Legault said, adding Sechelt's storm main could be the culprit.
The District of Sechelt did some extra testing today [July 23] on the storm main that they have that runs down Ocean, and we believe we know what the cause is, that they have a hole in the pipe and it sucked the material into the pipe, Legault said. I'm fairly confident that's what it is, but I'm not 100 per cent sure.
More testing was to be done throughout the week to pinpoint the cause of the sinkhole. If Sechelt's storm main is determined to be the cause, Sechelt will be on the hook to pay for the fix.
In the meantime, Capilano Highways and Sechelt public works staff filled the hole and patched it with asphalt, which Legault said should suffice for now.
If it is indeed the storm main, with it not raining, then there's no real worries about gravel being sucked out at this time, but obviously something should be done before winter, he said.
