More work on sewer main

Street that collapsed in April

People have been wondering why traffic cones remain in place on Schnoor Avenue at its intersection with Howard Road, and the answer is: To try to avoid anyone being injured should the street collapse as it did in that area some two months ago.

The cave-in of the street occurred April 11 when a Madera police officer noticed the pavement beginning to sink. He immediately closed the road to traffic, and people in the neighborhood brought out their launchers and watched the street slowly collapse into a sinkhole big enough to hold a car, had a car fallen into it.

The cave-in began, city engineers said, when an old sewer pipe became overwhelmed during a rainy period and began to leak. Part of the soil supporting the pipe began to wash away, and the street surface gradually sunk.

The street had to be blocked off for weeks while the sewer line was repaired and the soil was replaced. When the street finally reopened, the traffic cones on Schnoor, from its intersection with Howard Road, were kept in place, because it had become apparent that the sewer main would need substantial repair...