Overbrook Water Main Break Opens Sinkhole, Swallows Truck
OVERBROOK (KDKA) – A large water main break in Overbrook caused a sinkhole to open up and swallow a truck.
According to emergency dispatchers, the break happened in the 2500-block of Homehurst Avenue Monday morning.
At the site of the break, a massive sinkhole swallowed a truck and a 30-foot trailer parked in a driveway.
The owner was able to move two cars before the driveway caved.
#BREAKING water main break swallows truck and trailer in Overbrook. pic.twitter.com/6KnSxf743y
— Heather Abraham (@KDKAHeather) August 3, 2015
"They're gone. Everything that was in the trailer is sprawled out in the yard. He rushed out of there. He said the water was already [two-feet], gushing up when he was pulling all the vehicles out. It was a last-minute save," Carl Baumgart Jr. said.
The break is just above Route 88, which is under construction. There's concern that the tractor-trailers, large equipment and extra vehicles on the side road may have weakened the road and the concrete lock joint water main.
The break sent water rushing down a hill. At least one home at the bottom of the hill has suffered significant damage.
"It's washed out. Everything is washed out. My foundation is washed out. My first floor looks like a swimming pool," the homeowner said. "They've been doing construction for weeks, holding us hostage on this street. Now a water main breaks and I have no more home."
Penn American Water crews said the 30-inch concrete main was installed in the 1960's.
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