MONSTER SINK HOLE IN MONTROSE - A cave in during the Park Street construction project currently under way in Montrose created a monster sinkhole at the intersection of Park and Feher Streets this past week. The intersection, which is along the main thoroughfare to all three Montrose Community School buildings, and is located directly in front of Carter Elementary School, was closed from Monday until Friday. Because of the cave-in construction crews were forced to hand dig a trench to finish laying sewer pipe in order to complete the project and have the road open in time for the holiday weekend and the start of school. (TCC Photos by Deb Miller)

"We thought this would be a routine project. We figured it would take about ten days to lay the new sewer pipe but because there have been problems all along the way we're in our fourth week," stated Project Superintendent from Washtenaw Inc. Misty Filsinger.

Washtenaw Inc. is the subcontractor for the project while Wade Trim is serving as the project engineer and project administrator for the City of Montrose.

"As we've worked to install sanitary sewers along one side of Park Street we've had cave-in, cave-in, cave-in," she added.

Filsinger noted that the cave-ins along Park street were small and the major cave-in came this past Monday as crews were digging a trench through the intersection of Park and Feher Streets in order to connect the newly installed sewer pipe along Park Street to the main sewer located in the center of the intersection.

As the crew was digging the trench the ground along the sides of the trench caved in leaving the asphalt above unsupported. Large chunks of pavement, some the size of small vehicles, broke away and hit the water main, flooding the twenty-foot deep hole.

The crew was using 14 foot by 20 foot steel trench wall plates (trench boxes) to maintain the stability of the trench so all crewmembers got out unharmed.

"We are lucky no one was injured. It was a huge cave in," stated Filsinger.

The cave-ins have been due to the fact that the road had no stone sub base. The base of the road is completely sand and therefore was not solid.

The crew stood watch around the clock to safeguard area residents until the area could be brought back to a safe state.

"This is a huge safety issue, it was a very dangerous area" noted Filsinger.

"We took turns keeping watch around the clock to ensure that no one would get hurt."

As the crew continued to work to complete the trench they experienced another cave-in on Wednesday, forcing them to hand dig the remainder of the trench to finish laying the sewer pipe and connect to the main sewer.

The project is finally wrapping up and the road is open just in time for the start of school on Tuesday.

Crews completed the sewer connection Friday, along with filling the hole with a stone sub base making the road stable for traffic.

Storm sewers along the other side of Park Street will now be installed and then Park Street will be paved.

The Park Street Improvement Project was approved by the City Council in April of this year.

The project includes the installation of storm sewers, sanitary sewers, and natural gas along Park Street, all of which were non-existing along that stretch previously.

When completed the project will also include concrete curbs and gutters, as well as either concrete or asphalt driveway approaches for residents along the street.

As part of several city improvements in the works, Maple Street from Washington to Genesee, and all of Coke Drive are also currently being re-paved.