By Thia James

Months later, East Flat neighbourhood is crater free

Mar 18, 2015 | 11:59 AM

The oblong crater in front of Lacey Borstmayer’s home had been there for months.

The hole was at least six feet long and four feet wide, its edges were jagged cuts into the earth, similar to the jagged pieces of broken ice that rested near its surface. It is unknown exactly how deep the hole was, but the broken ice rested a little over a foot below ground level. Pieces of rebar were jutting out of the ice.

On Tuesday morning, the crater was there. Later that day, the City of Prince Albert sent a crew in to replace the water main at the root of this situation and then backfill the hole.

The City called in a contractor to help, Mayor Greg Dionne said on Tuesday afternoon. He said there were two different water main breaks, one to a six-inch line, the other to a primary water line.

“We fixed the one, and then we had the other one, so that’s what took so long,” he said and added the crew would “back-fill and pack it so it won’t cave in again. And hopefully, the frost behaves itself and doesn’t break again.”

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Inquiries were put to the City by paNOW about the hole earlier that day, but Dionne explained action was taken that day because the break affected a primary line.

“If it blows up anymore it could cause significant damage,” he said. The amount of water pressure in a primary line is “huge” compared to a feeder line, which is why the City called in the contractor, he added.

The problem spot had been present in the East Flat neighbourhood for months, according to nearby residents that spoke with paNOW on Tuesday morning.

“I just noticed one day in the middle of winter that they had dug something up and I know that they have to do that to maintain the system, so I really didn’t think much of it. And then in the spring, it kind of just ended up as just a big hole like that with water in it,” Borstmayer said.

The hole in front of her Second Street East home was a cause for concern; she thought it was a safety issue, particularly because it was along the road. Borstmayer hadn’t contacted the City about the crater in her front yard. She was not sure who she should contact – she has only been living at the home since October and is new to the city.

“My boyfriend’s truck got stuck in it,” she said with a laugh. “He dug it out, so it’s OK now. We kind of just are not parking there. We thought about getting something to mark it, but I’m not really sure.”

The City did not set up barricades around the crater and none were present on Tuesday morning.

Her neighbour Lee-Anne, who declined to use her last name, said the City fixed a water main break, but the hole has since sunk in. She too, was concerned about residents’ safety.

“It’s kind of scary having kids there, kids here, kids over there that are always playing road hockey and stuff, and we don’t want them anywhere near this hole,” she said.

Lee-Anne’s husband spray painted markers and stuck them in the crater so drivers pulling up would know not to drive through. The sticks later fell in.

The main issue

A confluence of factors contributed to the water main break: aging water infrastructure and frost that penetrated deep into the ground.

At this time of the year, when the temperatures start to rise, Dionne said the frost will start to come up and the ground will shift.

“Hopefully we don’t go what we did last year when we had a pile of them,” he said.

From Monday night into Tuesday morning, there were three water main breaks reported to the City. Dionne said it was the most breaks the City has dealt with in a long time.

“A break never happens from nine to five, when you have your crews right on it and repair it. It always happens at night. And so, they’re on it and this time they’ll get the fix right because they have all the parts and then they’ll move on to another break.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames