Although It's Been Filled, The Sinkhole By Sac State Will Have To Be Monitored For Months
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Wet weather caused a sinkhole to open up near the American river by Sacramento State. Crews with the American River Flood Control District worked tirelessly on Wednesday to fill the hole.
"It's a lot of rain!" said Bob Thiele, who lives near the American River.
The relentless rain led to a massive cleanup effort under the H Street Bridge. An eight-foot sinkhole formed on Wednesday on the bike trail.
"This isn't actually very common," said Tim Kerr, General Manager of the American River Flood Control District.
His team spotted the hole while monitoring the levee earlier in the day.
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"You don't want the sinkhole to eat its way back into the bridge pilings or anything like that!" he said.
The base of the H Street Bridge was just feet away from the hole. Kerr's team brought in truckloads of dirt in an attempt to fill it.
"I thought I would just take a little walk up here and see what's going on," said Liane Leavitt, who lives a few blocks away. "It always is of concern you know when you live in proximity to a big river like this. You just never know."
As night began to fall, the guys were still trekking through the mud and scurrying to make sure the area could withstand any flooding.
"It's likely a deep abandoned utility that is causing this soil to migrate," Kerr said.
Eventually, the team filled the hole and covered it with plastic. But Kerr told CBS13 they'll have to monitor the area throughout the winter and come back in the spring to investigate just what caused the sinkhole to form.
