City reveals Longview sinkhole result of broken line from year ago

LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) - According to the city, the High Street Bridge sinkhole was caused about a year ago when a city contractor, Wicker Construction, broke a line while working to relocate drainage and sewage.

That relocation was in preparation for the bridge reconstruction. A different contractor, D&D Construction, repaired the sinkhole at a cost of about $100,000. Wicker paid the city $25,000 to defer costs.

“There’s a very old large drainage line that runs kind of with that road, and it was about 20 feet down, so when they got down in there to relocate those water and sewer lines they just impacted that. But, they’re such good partners they said, ‘Hey, we’re going to be part of that solution,’ and participated in that repair, so we really appreciate that,” said Longview Director of Public Works Dwayne Archer.

In Thursday night’s Longview City Council meeting, the council approved paying $63,000 for repairs.

The sinkhole was repaired last Friday. Council also said goodbye to retiring City Attorney Jim Finley who worked for the city for 23 years under five mayors, and Parks Director Scott Caron who is leaving for work in the private sector.

Copyright 2023 KLTV. All rights reserved.