FRASER, Mich. (WWJ) -- Crews with the Macomb County Public Works Office are conducting emergency repairs on a pair of sinkholes that were discovered in Fraser and Eastpointe.
The MCPWO says school officials at Eastpointe Middle School on Kelly Road were preparing for the first day of school when they discovered a void under a sidewalk in front of the school. Officials say the void is as deep as eight feet and it formed under a stretch of the sidewalk near a manhole on a lateral of the Stephens Relief Drain, a large storm drain that services Eastpointe and St. Clair Shores.
The void hasn't had any impact on any roadways, but an engineering team from the public works office began the repair process on Tuesday.
Another sinkhole was discovered in Fraser, along Kingston Street, a residential street south of 14 Mile Road and west of Utica Road. Officials say repairs are being made to the Priest Drain, a storm sewer that services the Fraser community. The sinkhole is about eight feet in diameter. The pipe is about 10 feet below the surface of the street and part of Kingston Street is closed during the repair process.
"Our underground infrastructure is aging in place. This is why we are actively working to inspect it and to work on preventative maintenance. In both places, our partners in the Eastpointe and Fraser departments of public works worked with us to identify these problems. We find 'em. We fix 'em," Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller said in a statement. "We are particularly thankful that the sinkhole near the Eastpointe Middle School was identified before the first day of school so no students were injured."
The separate repairs are each expected to take about two weeks to complete. The combined total costs, which will be paid for from separate funds from the two drains, is expected to be below $50,000, according to the MCPWO.
"Simply put, this kind of repair work is more expensive than paying for an ounce of prevention, which is another reason we are working so diligently to thoroughly inspect all 475 storm drains in Macomb County," Miller said.
Several sinkholes have been discovered across Macomb County in recent years, including a spot on 15 Mile Road between Hayes and Utica Roads in Fraser that has opened up on multiple occasions.
