It has been several weeks after an unexpected sinkhole appeared on the city's main artery and the repairs are ongoing.
Motorists can expect to be slowed by a sea of hazard cones in the area of Highway 101 in South Porcupine.
On June 10, an estimated six-foot deep sinkhole appeared suddenly.
Police and city crews responded to the scene quickly.
Later that evening, a temporary patch work was put over the hole, and the lane was reopened overnight.
However, the problem proved to be much deeper rooted.
A complete culvert replacement was necessary in the area.
City of Timmins crews, along with Miller Paving and Mascioli Construction crews have been working in the area this week.
Director of Public Works and Engineering Luc Duval gave an update to TimminsToday.
“Where we have the contractors deployed right now is the exact spot where the sinkhole appeared. The culvert was investigated and there were some failures there, with sand getting through the culvert and create erosion. We've dispatched a contractor to that location. We're doing a temporary fix to last us hopefully a couple of years. We're putting a concrete collar around the failure. We'll go with that,” said Duval.
Upon inspection of the area, a major contribution to the failure is likely to have been a poor flow of water, due to blocked ditches and culverts around the highway.
A buildup of weeds and sand from winter maintenance has accumulated to the point where they are completely buried.
When asked if it's the city's responsibility to maintain ditches and culverts along the highway, Duval had this to say: “I'd have to double check for sure. It's going to be the city to some extent, or the MRCA (Mattagami Region Conservation Authority) which is funded by the city's budget. That's an area that belongs to us, like all the ditches we have over the city. We know we have right now to address in the Melrose area, where over time weeds and sand and silt have taken a lot of the capacity away from the culverts.”
Duval explained that due to the size of the city, ditch and culvert cleanup is a major challenge for city crews.
“It's part of our maintenance, ongoing all the time, more than we can handle and certainly when we come across some that are in bad condition, like that area of South Porcupine we deploy resources. We have some equipment that can get to those areas, and sometimes we have to contract out as well.”
Traffic in the area has been reduced to two lanes, one in each direction.
Crews were seen paving the area Thursday afternoon.
Earlier TimminsToday coverage of this story
