A water main break in the intersection of Willow Avenue and Fifth Street flooded several streets Tuesday morning. The sinkhole created swallowed a red Honda CRV, and shut down the Our Lady of Grace Elementary School for the day.
The pressure created by the water main break caused the pavement to buckle and created the sinkhole. Suez Water, the city’s water utility company, pulled out the SUV that fell into the sinkhole, repaired the broken main, and filled in the sinkhole, all in the same day. However, they did not do an effective job; the same water main broke again on Wednesday night. It leaked a smaller amount of water, and the previous day’s repairs had to be broken down and redone properly.
Water pressure was affected in the area for the day. Even though no people were harmed, the water break raised a huge concern about Hoboken’s century-old water system. This was the second main break in Hoboken this month, and the fourth main break this year. Mayor Dawn Zimmer stated that her goal is to have all the water mains on Washington Street replaced within the year. As for the rest of the city, the water mains will be checked annually. She also added that the city hasn’t yet invested in replacing and monitoring water mains, but now plans to spend up to $5 million each year to avoid future incidents.
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