Street Collapse in the South Slope

On Saturday, loyal Brownstoner reader and commenter Snappy sent us the photo above, as well as the following note: “Some time today (not exactly sure when), a small portion of 18th Street between 4th and 5th Avenues simply gave way and collapsed. I spoke to an officer guarding the blocked off section and he estimated the hole to be approximately 18 feet deep! A few hours later, the DEP arrived on the scene and now there is a ConEd Emergency truck at the site as well. Perhaps they are all in “cya” mode, but I couldn’t get anyone to tell me what causes such collapses and why this particular collapse may have happened. I missed the actual collapse occurring so I don’t know if anyone was hurt.” The update as of yesterday was as follows: “Construction crews appeared to repair the problem. I spoke to a few of them who said the hole was about 14 feet deep, not 18 as reported yesterday. The cause was a cracked sewer pipe, akin to what happened not too long ago on Berkeley in Park Slope. The workers did a quicky job on the affected area, but said that eventually – though not likely any time soon – the whole street may need to be dug up to replace the entire length of sewer lines.” Click through for a few more photos she sent, including of the repairs.

Saturday

Repairs in action yesterday

The repaired section of the street