UPDATE (1/24/2015): A week later…
The state of the Spruce Street sinkhole. pic.twitter.com/JoHR9kZJ8B
— West Philly Local (@WestPhillyLocal) January 24, 2015
(1/19/2015): As of 8:25 p.m. on Monday, the sinkhole is still there. The cars that had been caught in it have been pulled out. We didn’t see any Streets Department crews working there when we stopped by on Monday night. Although the hole, which is on the eastbound lane, hasn’t been fixed, the block reopened to traffic (you have to get in the westbound lane to go around it). What makes it even more dangerous is that the hole is very close to the 46th and Spruce intersection. Please be careful when driving or biking on that block.
A large sinkhole opened up on the 4600 block of Spruce Street on Sunday under two cars parked on the block. A reader, Phil Gentry, tweeted this photo at around 4 p.m.
Photo by Phil Gentry.
The street surface there had problems over the weekend, and the Streets Department crews continued working on the block. A water main break closed the block to traffic on Saturday, and there was no water supply to nearby homes for several hours.
A police tow truck began pulling two cars off the edge of the hole at about 8:30 p.m.. The block is closed to all traffic and the Route 42 bus is on detour until 12 p.m. on Monday.
Photos by Mike Lyons / West Philly Local.
January 18th, 2015 at 10:05 pm
I believe that that is the same sinkhole that was supposedly repaired last month after two cars started dipping into it.
January 18th, 2015 at 11:10 pm
I think the fixed sinkhole from a little while ago was actually up the block a bit. And there was another large sinkhole just around on the corner on Farragut this past fall. So, apparently this whole block is just waiting to fall into a cavern or something.
January 19th, 2015 at 8:06 am
Alas, I’m not surprised. The street surface there has been in bad shape and slowly getting worse for a good length of time. Hope they get it fixed solidly this time.
January 19th, 2015 at 8:17 am
It should also be noted that this block was without water on Saturday from about 8am till 3pm due to a water main break under the road surface. The main break and the sinkhole are probably related. Whatever subsistence problems existed under the street before was probably made worse by the leak.
January 19th, 2015 at 4:19 pm
“Hope they get it fixed solidly this time.”
I think city officials are looking into it.
January 19th, 2015 at 5:18 pm
btw, I always wondered about the weird washboard in the road going east on Spruce at 46th, and checking out the side of the hole that’s in the street I think I can see some ironwork – maybe an old trolley line?
January 20th, 2015 at 5:07 pm
I peeped into the sinkhole and it seemed to be filed with Nickelodeon slime. What’s up with that?
January 20th, 2015 at 9:19 pm
@Yo, the Streets Dept (or whoever is in charge) pours that fluorescent dye into sinkholes to trace the water flow. They can see were the dye ends up to learn more about the sinkhole and possible spreading. It is supposed to be non-toxic.
January 20th, 2015 at 9:20 pm
Dye Tracing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye_tracing
January 20th, 2015 at 10:10 pm
Heya, Michel S., that’s “subsidence”, not “subsistence”. 😉
January 21st, 2015 at 4:33 pm
thats crazy… I thought the “slime” was leaked coolant from when the 2 cars almost fell into it. TIL!
January 27th, 2015 at 9:58 am
Where does all the dirt go? Did anyone see Exogorth in the hole? (Star Wars fans will get that)