Crews hope to fix sewer problem under Riverside Dr. in 2 weeks
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - Officials say they hope to have the sewer under Riverside Drive fixed in two weeks.
The westbound lanes have been closed since that sinkhole formed early last week.
Officials say crews have had to wait for water levels to go down.
They say the problem is with a brick sewer that’s more than 100 years old.
Justin Guetling, Deputy Director of Field Operations for the Evansville Water and Sewer Utility, spoke with the media Friday to share an update.
He says they were able to get some shoring up to make it safe for workers to get down to the sewer.
“Because of the depth of the main, which is just 20 feet to the top, we’ve got to go another several feet underneath it,” Guetling said. “What those slide rails do, once they add on, the more they dig out the more they can add to it so they can safely excavate.”
They are hoping to get things fixed in a few weeks, but they say it could take longer.
“EWSU is working as quickly and as safely as we can to get this repaired,” said EWSU Executive Director Vic Kelson.
Officials are also emphasizing that they would like drivers to avoid using First Street to get around the detour.
“They’re flying down southeast 1st, instead of going Cherry to Second, where it’s four lanes, back to Walnut, back to the Riverfront,” Guetling said.
It’s a brick street that officials say was not designed for heavy traffic.
Westbound Riverside Drive remains closed from Chestnut to Cherry.
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