'Our crews are on it': Massive hole forms on street in Prince Albert, Sask.

(Courtesy Wes Hicks)

The City of Prince Albert says a large hole near the Diefenbaker Bridge will be fixed by the long weekend and it’s not related to a Saturday night rain storm even though it happened during the downpour.

“It was a very large washout. We don’t encounter those very often but our crews were on it and it will hopefully be completed tomorrow,” said Hicks.

“Fortunately in this case there were no vehicles around at the time and there were no injuries.”

The water main break that led to the hole's formation happened at 12th St. West between 1st Ave. West.

A restraining clamp that held the elbow on the pipe broke causing water to wash 246 cubic metres of earth away from under the asphalt causing the road to collapse, Hicks said.

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The city first became aware of the break about 9:30 p.m. Sat. Aug. 27 when a water treatment plant operator noticed an increase in water leaving the plant.

“And in most cases those breaks surface right way, this one did not,” said Hicks.

The hole was noticed by motorists around 11:00 p.m. with some members of the public posting photos to social media while city crews were called in to put up barricades.

The break doubled the city’s water consumption, using over 2.3 million litres of water, until it was capped.

The city has a ten-year plan to replace aging water mains and that’s helped to cut down on breaks such as this one says Hicks.

Dirt was being added to the hole today and the asphalt should be repaired by Friday.

“We won’t have any lanes issues or construction issues on the Labour Day weekend. It’s all open and clear for everyone heading to the lakes,” Hick said.

“It was a very large washout. We don’t encounter those very often but our crews were on it and it will hopefully be completed tomorrow.”