A massive sinkhole appeared in the middle of a San Francisco street after a sewer line beneath it suddenly broke, according to city officials.
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (PUC) spokesman Charles Sheehan said that city crew responded to reports that a portion of Sacramento Street in the Pacific Heights neighborhood had collapsed Thursday afternoon, leaving a 22 feet long and 17 feet wide hole in its wake.
He said that after investigating the situation, they discovered that an 18-inch sewer main located beneath the street ruptured and caused large amounts of water to burst out. This gradually eroded the soil that was supporting the road above and made it more vulnerable to collapse.
While it is still unsure what exactly caused the break of the sewer line, the city government has already begun to replace hundreds of miles of old pipelines around San Francisco. The project is expected to continue in the next few years and cost about $1.2 billion to finish. Funding for the sewer line replacement will come from water ratepayers.
The PUC will be able to accomplish its goal by increasing the length of the pipelines it fixes every year. This means its workers will need to bring the average replaced pipeline length from 6 miles per year to 15 miles.
Despite the formation of the giant sinkhole, Sheehan said that there were no damages to any of the private properties along Sacramento Street. There was also no interruption to water or sewer services in the area.
City crews had also repaired the damage to the sewer line and poured concrete on the massive depression in the ground. Sacramento Street was reopened to traffic by Saturday afternoon.
On Saturday, the state-run news network China Central Television (CCTV) broadcasted footage of an actual sinkhole opening up in a busy road.
The video shows an officer trying to divert traffic away from a crack on the street mere minutes before the ground finally collapses.
