Sinkhole causes problems for city
November 4th, 2007
Broken gas lines. A collapsing road embankment. A quarry filling with water.
Those are the symptoms of a sinkhole problem along South Sprigg Street in Cape Girardeau that city officials will try to address by bringing federal agencies, elected officials and businesses together next week.
The trouble began at about 10 p.m. July 7, when employees at the Cape Girardeau Waste Water Treatment Plant smelled a strong odor of gas. Collapsing ground ruptured a six-inch AmerenUE gas main, sending city firefighters and utility maintenance employees scurrying to contain the potentially dangerous leak.
Late last month, the embankment along South Sprigg Street just north of the Cape La Croix Creek bridge gave way. City workers shored it up with concrete and large rocks.
Around the same time, the quarry at Buzzi Unicem’s cement plant was filling with seeping groundwater faster than the pumps could remove it, said plant manager Steve Leus.
[Keywords: Sinkhole causes problems for city ]
Entry Filed under: Newsfeed