On Monday, April 29, the North Wildwood Sewer Crew was doing their regular check of the system when they saw it: a small sinkhole that signaled a critical problem below.
Moments later, Public Works Superintendent Harry Wozunk was on the scene assessing the situation. He had Public Works employees try to correct the problem, but soon found that the sanitary main was too old and deteriorated to repair. It had to be replaced.
City engineers Van Note Harvey Associates were called to investigate and to begin the replacement process. Wozunk declared it an emergency situation and crews from Perna-Finnigan, Inc. brought in their heavy equipment.
Before the digging began, underground phone, gas, and electric lines had to be identified so they were not cut.
As you can see in the video, 250 feet of the street was opened, the sides were braced, and sewer lines were redirected while the old line was removed.
The new lines will be completely installed by Friday afternoon and a temporary roadway will be open by the weekend. The paving will be restored next week.
This massive undertaking is just one of the many complicated operations our Public Works Department handles in order to maintain City services.
