Water main break opens up sinkhole at PV's Corinth Square

A water main break earlier this week at Prairie Village’s Corinth Square produced a sinkhole in the shopping center’s parking lot.

WaterOne officials say crews were dispatched to repair the eight-inch underground pipe on Tuesday, and when they arrived on the scene, they found two cars impacted by the sinkhole, according to utility officials.

Images posted to social media showed one vehicle with its back tires sunk into the hole, which looked to be a bit wider than the vehicle itself and roughly eight to 10 feet long but not that deep.

The sinkhole has since been patched, and the overall impact of the incident appears to have been minimized.

A previously scheduled Easter event Saturday at Corinth Square is going forward with no planned disruptions.

The water main break happened Tuesday evening

Mandy Cawby, WaterOne director of customer relations, said WaterOne was notified of the main break around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28.
It broke near the Hen House grocery store at the shopping center’s northwest corner.
The break was caused by deterioration of the main over time, Cawby said.
Cawby said WaterOne plans to evaluate the line for replacement through its ongoing process for assessing infrastructure projects.

One vehicle removed from sinkhole

WaterOne personnel found the owners of the two vehicles inside a nearby store and worked with them to clear their vehicles from the area, Cawby said.
Video submitted to the Post by Thomasina Gutierrez, a utility locator who happened to be on the scene that evening, shows a large tow truck extracting the vehicle from the sinkhole with a winch.
Jami Logan, the owner of the vehicle, who reached out to the Post after the original version of this story was published, said the sinkhole caused roughly $2,000 of damage to her car.
She said there was water damage, as well as “significant” rock and debris on the underside of the car after being stuck in the sinkhole for more than two-and-a-half hours.

The sinkhole is now repaired

Cawby said repairs began by 8 p.m. on Tuesday and continued throughout the night into Wednesday morning until around 11:30 a.m.
That’s when pavement restoration began, Cawby said.
“It proved to be a prolonged and complex repair due to the initial break spurring several additional adjacent breaks on that stretch of main as repairs were in progress,” Cawby said.

A Corinth Square sinkhole caused by a water main break is being repaired by crews. — A water main break on Tuesday evening at Prairie Village’s Corinth Square led to a minor sinkhole. Above, crews repairing the sinkhole Wednesday. Photo credit Juliana Garcia

This will not impact a Saturday event

It’s Hip to Hop, a previously scheduled Easter-themed event this Saturday morning at Corinth Square is still happening.
Michelle Pitsenberger, vice president of First Washington Realty, which runs the shopping complex, said the water main break and sinkhole will not impact the event.
The event is still scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 1.

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