Sinkhole repair may continue into Wednesday night


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DRAPER — Damage from a water main break and sinkhole disrupted the morning commute at a busy intersection in Draper Wednesday morning.

The water main itself was fixed by 9 a.m. but 12300 South was not expected to reopen until about 9 p.m., according to Darrin Jensen. CEO of WaterPro, which owns the water line.

The sinkhole was reported on 12300 South near I-15 around 5 p.m. Tuesday. Water spilling from the broken 14-inch main dropped the city's 7 million gallon water tank a full 2 feet, according to Jensen. WaterPro quickly restored water pressure to much of Draper.

Through the night crews pumped water out of the ground and prepared the road for repair.

"We'll be able to test to see what the soils are looking out to see compaction to see how much of old soil needs to be ripped out," Jensen said. "How much new soil needs to be brought in and then start laying asphalt."

An exact timetable has been moved back a few times with the revealing of new soil. Crews are opening more road to see how far the water reached under the existing good asphalt that would cause issues later on. Officials are saying they expect the repair to be done tonight after 11 p.m., however that might be a generous estimate and there is a good chance it won't be ready until the morning.

While the break happened today, it might have been leaking water and had other issues earlier this year.

"Showing a little pinhole where the leak started going there," Jensen said. "Started wearing on the pipe, the fluctuation of the ground with the temperatures and finally just caused the pipe to give away."

The break happened at a very busy intersection. Eastbound lanes on 12300 South remain closed from I-15 to 300 East.

Thirteen businesses were closed Wednesday morning because they didn't have water, according to Jensen. Water was restored to all but five businesses by 9 a.m.

Some business owners saw their profits washed away Tuesday night.

"We've been shut down for both the bar and the restaurant, and the catering services. So, it's been quite difficult," said Ian Summerhays of Guadalahonky's.

Summerhays called it a nightmare because it impacted the dinner rush at his restaurant Tuesday night.

"Yeah, it hurts," Summerhays said. "It hurts bad. Last night we had to close at 4 p.m."

Some school bus routes were impacted, as well. A Facebook message to parents from Canyons School District Wednesday morning stated because of the mess, some buses would be delayed.

Get traffic updates on KSL NewsRadio and check commute times on the home page of KSL.com.

Updates will be posted as they become available.

Contributing: Alex Cabrero

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