A construction crew drilling in the area of Washington Street between South 19th and South 20th Avenue in Hollywood hit a water main Wednesday morning, creating a gaping sinkhole in the road and causing flooding in the streets, officials said.
Telecommunication contractors were drilling underground, laying cables when about 11 a.m. they hit the new pipe, Joann Hussey, a city spokesperson said. When the crews pulled the drill out from the pipe, it cracked and water began flooding underneath the road, causing it to collapse.
Customers were without water for about an hour, Hussey said. She estimated the hole to be about 15-feet-by-15-feet, blocking the four-way intersection.
Underground utility crews had rerouted the water service to customers about 3:30 p.m. and repairs are underway, the city said in a tweet.
“There’s sand all over the place and so it’s quite a large repair now that needs to be made to the roadway,” Hussey said.
Hollywood Police officers were in the area directing traffic until officials from the Public Works Department arrived and set up barricades, said Deanna Bettineschi, a spokesperson for the police department. Residents are urged to use other routes.
The city said residents will not need to boil water before use. The road restoration will be completed next week.
Hussey said the broken portion of the pipe will be repaired and parts of the road will need to be excavated over the next several days.
“In that particular intersection, there’s no getting through it. It’s going to remain closed until the repairs are made, so we’re telling people to avoid the area for the next week or so,” she said.
