BEFORE: PWSA construction crews clearing out the sinkhole

The effort to repair all underground infrastructure and rebuild the street was an extensive coordination effort taken on by the City of Pittsburgh, PWSA, Duquesne Light, Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal (PACT), Peoples Gas, and Comcast. PWSA quickly took on the role of clearing the debris from the sinkhole and rebuilding the street. 

We cleared approximately 2,500 tons of debris from the 48-inch sewer running down 10th Street to the Allegheny River outfall point, utilizing a vactor machine sitting on a river barge and a diver to remove debris from the river bed. 

A PWSA contractor then took the lead on removing all debris from the sinkhole, giving space for other utilities to repair damaged infrastructure. As part of the rebuilding process, we also installed a new bulkhead to the sewer manhole that was damaged when the street collapsed. After all repairs were complete, they filled the hole with stone, replaced bricks, and poured new concrete to reopen the street to car and pedestrian traffic.

At the end of the project, crews completed the following: 

• Added approximately 746 tons of stone backfill to the sinkhole
• Replaced 2,097 square feet of bricks
• Poured approximately 395 tons of concrete
• Logged over 1,100 hours of work to complete the project

We would like to thank the businesses, residents, and visitors to the Cultural District for their patience and understanding while we worked to bring 10th Street back!