Iowa Officials Work to Fix Ongoing Sinkhole Problem

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Some Sioux City residents are getting anxious about a spate of sinkholes, typically caused by broken water mains or storm sewers that cause the surface to collapse.

Residents worry the sinkholes could cause motor accidents or impact their property, the Sioux City Journal (http://bit.ly/2nTu3g7 ) reported.

“Some of our kids are in school buses that are traveling over this street,” said Tracy Johnson, who lives on a road with a sinkhole. “They’re going 30, 40 mph some times. I tell you, that would have been disastrous.”

Longtime Sioux City resident Joyce Downing filed a lawsuit against the city in 2014 after multiple sinkholes formed in her side yard. The city is working to fix the infrastructure at Downing’s intersection, and the case is scheduled to go to trial later this year if no settlement is reached.

City utilities director Mark Simms said Sioux City is taking a more proactive approach to fixing sinkhole problems as they arise. He said the city has begun responding to all reports of sinkholes as if they’re a result of city utilities.

“Most of these, it’s not a matter of going and dumping several loads of gravel or dirt or rock in it,” Simms said of utility-caused sinkholes. “They need to be dug out, the problem needs to be fixed, and a lot of the time that does require design and hiring contractors.”

Officials said the city has worked on at least three sinkholes in public areas so far in 2017, while also fielding several reports of sinkholes on private property.

Simms said he doesn’t believe the city has an exorbitant number of sinkholes for its scale.