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The repair work is estimated to cost $260,000
YOUNGSTOWN
The cost of repairing a major sinkhole that caused the collapse of water and sewer lines — and the closing of Mahoning Avenue — is estimated at $260,000.
The state will pick up 80 percent of the cost up to $213,000, Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works, said Friday.
“That is a huge win,” he said. “I can’t say enough good about the Ohio Public Works Commission. They exceeded my expectations.”
The problems, which also included sewage and water backup into the basements of about 15 properties, have been “a big mess,” Shasho said.
Of those properties, all on Whitney Avenue except two on Mahoning Avenue on the city’s West Side, 12 basements needed to be professionally cleaned, eight needed new water heaters, and three needed new furnaces, he said.
The cleanups and replacements, being paid for by the city, should be done in a few days, Shasho said.
“We’re moving as fast as we can,” he said.
The problems started Oct. 24 with a waterline break on Mahoning Avenue near McKinley Avenue.
That was followed Monday by 250 feet of a nearby sewer line collapsing.
Heavy rain the next day helped create a sinkhole of about 25 feet across and 15 feet deep in that area.
The rain also caused the backups in the houses, mostly on Whitney, Mayor John A. McNally said.
The city on Tuesday closed the Frank Sinkwich Bridge — on Mahoning Avenue between Glenwood and McKinley avenues and one of the main roads to get downtown from the city’s West Side — to have space for the repair work.
With workers from Utility Contracting Co., the Youngstown company hired by the city to make repairs, on the job for 16 hours a day, the road is expected to reopen late Wednesday, eight days after it had closed, McNally and Shasho said.
But work will continue for at least a couple of more days after the reopening, Shasho said.
After the sinkhole collapsed, a brick street and a trolley rail line were discovered, McNally said.
As of Friday, 40 of the 250 feet of sewer line had been replaced, Shasho said.