CUMBERLAND – Town crews with heavy machinery have been digging deep beneath Cumberland Town Hall’s parking lot over the past few days, after sinkholes began forming there.
Public Works Director Romeo Mendes said they had gotten some indication after a small excavation and repair of a sinkhole a decade or so ago that there was more than meets the eye under the asphalt, but when “two major sinkholes” formed more recently, they new a bigger project would be needed.
Two homes originally on this spot as of the 1960s were demolished, and when that happened, “all manner of things were then thrown in the open hole,” said Mendes. A test pit showed exactly what they were suspecting: that the debris, as it deteriorated with time, was leaving open spaces for dirt above it to fall into, eventually leading to the sinkholes.
They decided, based on the knowledge that the entire area of the lot is full of debris, to remove the remainder of the foundations and all problematic soil and replace it with new soil that can be properly compacted and then paved over, said Mendes.
The original homes, each measuring about 35 by 40 feet, were within about five feet of each other, and they took up almost the entire length of the parking lot adjacent to Town Hall at 45 Broad St. That earlier excavation 10 years ago showed an issue, said Mendes, but they didn’t know how big of one until the two large sinkholes formed over the last few weeks. It then became more clear that the entire area was suspect.
The total estimate for the job initially was in the $85,000-$95,000 range, but town highway workers were fortunately about to do the removal work, said Mendes. They had to pay to have new material trucked in, but once all work is completed, he is now estimating that the cost will be in the range of $50,000-$60,000.
It’s hard to know exactly how long the homes have been gone, he said, but an aerial photo from 1960 showed that they were still there, so they were likely removed by the 1970s.
