Water damage behind sinkhole in southeast Calgary, councillor says

Water damage is to blame for a massive sinkhole that opened in the southeast neighbourhood of Cranston Tuesday, the area city councillor says.

Ward 12 Coun. Evan Spencer told CBC Wednesday that according to an email from officials, a drain valve had broken in a park near where the sinkhole formed.

"One of the pipes that was feeding that system had had sprung a leak," he said. "Obviously it had been doing it for a long time, just due to the size of the hole."

The sinkhole opened at around 4 p.m. Tuesday near a busy intersection at Cranston Boulevard S.E. and Cranston Drive S.E.

After seeing photos of the sinkhole Tuesday, Spencer said it was "massive" and "the biggest I've seen in the city."

He reiterated that sentiment Wednesday after checking on it in person.

The sinkhole has disrupted traffic in the area and caused issues for some neighbourhood residents' driveway access, but no water service disruptions have been reported.

Spencer said there's still work underway to identify the extent of the roadway damage and gauge how structurally sound the area is.

He added crews could work extended hours to fix the road as soon as possible if the city determines that this is a high-priority location for repair.

Road maintenance information on the City of Calgary's website says potholes at high-priority locations are estimated to be fixed within five business days of inspection.