Southeast : Sinkhole Closes Long Beach Street

A burst water main in Long Beach created a sinkhole 20 feet wide and 12 feet deep, forcing the closure Wednesday of a section of Long Beach Boulevard.

The crater may have been caused by county sanitation workers burrowing a sewer tunnel beneath the major thoroughfare Tuesday night, officials said.

Although county and Long Beach water officials could not agree on what ruptured the 20-inch-diameter pipe, workers had been tunneling near the main only hours before it broke around 9 p.m. Tuesday.

The crater formed just south of a bridge spanning the Los Angeles River in North Long Beach. The hole grew to more than 30 feet wide by the time construction crews pulled away concrete whose ground support had washed away.

Workers closed the bridge Tuesday night but declared it safe Wednesday afternoon and planned to open up one lane of traffic each way over it. The crater forced the closure of the Long Beach Boulevard exit along the Long Beach Freeway.

Although city water officials said the burst pipe did not affect water delivery, residents around the area reported that they lost water service for a half hour or more Tuesday night.

It may take weeks to seal the pipe, city water officials said. They could not estimate the cost of the repair or how much water was spilled.