The deluge of rain that soaked San Francisco Wednesday overwhelmed and exposed the weakness of an aging sewer and water line infrastructure, giving the system its first test in a long while.
That’s according to Tyrone Jue, a spokesman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, who added that the city is working to replace the aging infrastructure with a multi-billion dollar plan but can only do so much at one time.
Crews with PG&E, the Department of Public Works, and Water Department are working together to repair the sinkhole at the intersection of 6th Avenue and Lake Street in the Richmond district, which buckled and crumpled early Wednesday morning after six consecutive days of rain. The sinkhole was even larger on Thursday. Jue estimates the work will be done by the end of Thursday, and that the sewer that was built 100 years ago will be getting an upgrade during the repair process.
However, there were three other sinkholes that opened up during the rains, Jue said, in the city's Corona Heights neighborhood, near the Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove on Sloat Boulevard, and in the Mission District near San Francisco General Hospital.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
