Sink hole discovered under Fairfield street

FAIRFIELD — A sink hole was discovered on a busy street in Fairfield Tuesday morning.

Fairfield Street Superintendent Darrel Bisgard said the city was attempting to locate a maintenance hole to a storm sewer line near Broadway Avenue just west of the square. He said city officials believed there should be some access to the storm sewer but could not find the maintenance hole they were expecting to find.

Through the use of a sewer camera, the city discovered there was a maintenance hole on North Second Street completely covered by the road. Bisgard said the maintenance hole cover had not been raised when the street was last paved, and the city had no record of the maintenance hole on any of its maps.

Bisgard said that upon digging into the road to unearth the maintenance hole, city crews discovered a void about 6 feet deep and 4 feet wide below the road where the dirt had washed away.

“That’s a pretty good size,” Bisgard said.

Bisgard said he believes that holes drilled into the sewer line years ago allowed water to flow under the road and wash away the ground. Fortunately, he said, that road is a state highway so it was built thicker and with more rebar than other streets in town.

Bisgard said Wednesday morning that he expected the road to open completely by 7 p.m. that night after repairs are made to it.