Franklin Street beset by sinkhole for hours
For hours, Franklin Street — one of the busier streets in Butler — was beset by a sinkhole on Thursday and Friday morning at the intersection near the closed Butler Middle School.
According to Butler City Councilman Troy Douthett, who is also the city’s director of streets and public improvements, the sinkhole was about two feet deep and six feet in diameter, and formed as a result of heavy rain on Thursday night, July 4.
Douthett reported that by 3:20 p.m., the sinkhole had been patched by a crew from Pennsylvania American Water.
While the sinkhole has been patched, Douthett warns that the outdated infrastructure under Butler is likely to create more of them if it isn’t upgraded soon.
“We have a few issues. We have old storm drains that are made out of a corrugated metal pipe, and those are at the end of their life cycle and a lot of them are rusting out. The other stuff is terracotta, which smashes and cracks.”
This means water can rush through cracks and holes in stormwater infrastructure during heavy storms, weakening the soil above and causing sinkholes.
“The real issue is coming up with money to modernize everything,” Douthett said. “It's not just us. It's across the country. Until we find grants or we start getting a little bit of help from the state, this is going to be a patch program.”
