Water Main Rupture Creates Big Sinkhole

A broken water main in midtown collapsed a section of Catalina Street on Monday afternoon, sending city crews scrambling to repair the large sinkhole.

The section of road, at the corner of Catalina and Main streets, gave way around 2 p.m., shortly before students from nearby Ventura High School were let out for the day.

Police had been alerted to a depression in the pavement before it collapsed, and cordoned off the area from vehicles and pedestrians. No one was injured in the incident.

Larry Sanford, water distribution supervisor for Ventura, said heavy equipment used by construction crews working on the Catalina storm drain project probably caused the 20-foot-long, 4-foot-deep sinkhole.

“The tractors and other heavy equipment puts pressure on the pavement, which puts pressure on the water line,” Sanford said.

Water service was briefly disrupted to residents on Catalina Street but was restored within an hour. The high school did not experience any break in service.

Sanford said he expected crews to have the sinkhole filled in and paved over by nightfall Monday.