British Columbia

Kelowna sinkhole traps city truck

Crews in Kelowna, B.C. are working to extract a city truck from a sinkhole after it broke through pavement on a street in the Glenmore neighbourhood of the city.

Sinkhole caused by water running under asphalt from a water main break

A City of Kelowna truck fell into a sinkhole Wednesday morning as it was on its way to investigate a water main break (Jaimie Kehler/CBC)

Crews in Kelowna, B.C., are working to extract a city truck from a sinkhole after it broke through pavement on a street in the Glenmore neighbourhood of the city.

The truck was responding to a watermain break around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, when its rear tires sank into the asphalt on Walker Drive.

The rear passenger-side wheels of the city truck fell beneath the pavement into a sinkhole believe to be caused by a water main break (Jaimie Kehler/CBC)

Walker Drive is on a steep hill, according to City of Kelowna construction supervisor Wayne Nadasde.

"When you get watermain breaks, it's not unusual for the soil to get really saturated and that causes the soil to settle, he said.

"When you get on really steep grades like this, a lot of time the water will carry the soil downstream and, of course, leaves a void."

Crews will bring equipment through a nearby field to get to the location and extract the truck.

Work to free the truck and repair the road is expected to take most of the day, said Nadasde.

With files from Jaimie Kehler