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Sinkhole Work On Colorado Blvd. Continues

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Dec 29, 2009 11:30 am US/Mountain

Sinkhole Work On Colorado Blvd. Continues

DENVER (CBS4) ― Repair work on a sinkhole on Colorado Blvd. on Monday uncovered some issues Denver Water hadn't bargained for.

The sinkhole, which opened up after a 16 inch water main pipe burst, got so deep and dangerous that the utility decided to abandon the broken line.

Denver Water's repair now involves installing a new bypass to reconnect the handful of commercial customers left without water.

Crews were still working on cleaning up the sinkhole on Tuesday morning. The hole is located in the southbound lanes at 4205 Colorado Blvd. near Smith.

The broken line was installed in 1951. Denver Water believes it failed under the added weight of frozen ground.

"When you have older pipes in the system and maybe the soil is a little more corrosive, (the cold) is going to put more pressure on the system and maybe make it more prone to breaking," Denver Water spokeswoman Stacy Chesney told CBS4.

The work isn't expected to be done until Wednesday. Crews have pushed back their estimates for when they'll be done twice.

Emergency crews have the southbound lanes of Colorado from Interstate 70 to 40th shut down and the exit from eastbound I-70 to Colorado is closed.

Those headed southbound on Colorado will be re-routed into northbound lanes.

Two businesses in the area are out of water.

Denver has more than 3,000 miles of water pipes in the city. Many of them were installed right after World War II. A plan is already in place for upgrading the system and Denver Water customers will foot the bill. It will add about $40 to the average bill for Denver Water customers next year.

(© MMX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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