Despite multiple sinkholes, Dalton Road safe: Town of Georgina

Yorkregion.com
June 3, 2015
By Heidi Riedner

Georgina residents are used to nice weather filling their streets, but one road was literally sinking late last week after a number of watermain breaks in Sutton.

While this is something that does not occur frequently, according to the town, it is investigating why the recent watermain breaks occurred on Dalton Road between High Street and Metro Road last Thursday and Friday and how they can be prevented in the future.

No water in her home, pylons, town crews and a huge sinkhole in the northbound lanes of Dalton brought one area resident, living north of Grew Boulevard, out just after 4 p.m. Thursday to see what was going on.

“I have to go to work and there’s no water in my house,” she said, staring incredulously at a 10-by-20-foot damaged and rippled roadway with a gaping hole about six feet deep, caved in at the centre.

Most of the 80 properties affected had their water services resumed by 11:30 p.m. that night, with a few other properties not coming back online until the early morning, according to the town.

As of yesterday, it was still determining the overall price tag for the emergency repair.

Narrowing down the cause was also still up in the air, but a manager with the town’s operations and engineering department said the breaks may have been due to “temporary transients”.

Transients refer to any pressure wave that is short lived - the most common occurrence of this is called a water hammer - and they are often the cause of or a contributing factor to pipe breaks, pump/valve failures, etc.

But infrastructure and operations manager Gagan Sandhu added the age of the pipe, which is 50 to 55 years old, the ductile iron material of the pipe, its chemistry with the potable water and the existing ground conditions are all being looked at as possible contributing factors to last week’s breaks.

While reduced lanes were par for the course Thursday because of the sinkhole and a second break on the sidewalk and south entrance to the Giant Tiger plaza, Dalton was completely closed to traffic for most of Friday morning after another sinkhole left gushing water and a hole right in the middle of Dalton in front of the No Frills grocery store.

The 13 affected properties were back on water service by 11:45 p.m. that night.

In the interim, residents affected by the breaks were advised by the town via website and social media updates and hand-delivered door-to-door notices to obtain water from one of the three public taps.

The town’s recently completed asset management plan identified aging infrastructure as not only a key area of future investment, but also a factor in establishing a long-term financial plan for the municipality.

While Dalton is a regional road, the town is conducting a pipe condition assessment to determine any potential contributing factors and preventative measures moving forward.

But that will take some time and co-ordination with the Region of York, according to the town.

The town successfully dealt with the situation and is currently assembling pertinent data for further analysis and review, Sandhu said.

“When more information is obtained, any necessary decisions can be determined at that time.”

As for those a little hesitant regarding the stability and safety of the road in light of recent events, the town assured residents Dalton is a safe road for motorists and pedestrians.