Sinkhole closes portion of Kincaid Street

But drivers suffering from Monday-itis will have to find a new route to their workplaces, with workers to return to the site at 7am on Monday – closing the road for more works to be undertaken. 

Council has been at the site throughout the day repairing the damage caused by the subsidence, which is located between Moorong and Hann streets.

Council has asked anyone needing to use the road to exercise caution, as the affected area has not been resealed.

The street has been closed to traffic between Moorong Street and Hann Street as Wagga City Council staff work to stabilise the sinkhole.

Wagga City Council wearing operations supervisor Lee Shoemark said the council deals with about three or four sinkholes a year.

“This one’s a bit more significant because it’s on (a main road),” Mr Shoemark said.

“It’s quite a large void.”

Mr Shoemark said sinkholes of this nature were usually caused by damaged stormwater mains.

“There’s a stormwater main that runs from one side of the road to the other,” he said.

“When it is carrying a lot of water, like what we’ve seen (on Thursday) night, the water leaks out of the main and waterlogs the area surrounding the pipe.

“The material then gets washed away along the pipe and leaves a gap.”

Mr Shoemark said council was called out on Thursday night to assess the hole, and made the decision to close Kincaid Street to through traffic.

“The weather conditions (Thursday) night didn’t allow us to work on the problem until (Friday) morning,” he said.

The fix involves saw cutting the road to uncover the damaged area and make repairs, then back-filling.

“We will probably have to dig across the entire stretch of Kincaid Street, which could take us most of the day,” Mr Shoemark said.