Next Phase In Fraser Sinkhole Repair Begins; Thanksgiving Target Completion Date

FRASER (WWJ) -- The next phase in work on the massive sinkhole in Macomb County is set to begin the day after Memorial Day.

After over a month of drilling, construction at the Fraser sinkhole is entering its next phase. Construction crews worked more than 20 hours a day, seven days a week to install 260 piers filled with cement and steel beams to build walls.

That work will allow contractors to dig down 60 feet to replace the interceptor's broken pipe -- which is 11 feet in diameter.

The excavation of a 300-foot by 28-foot shaft begins right after Memorial Day and will last about a month.

Work is also underway to clean the 3,700 feet of the pipe immediately east of the break -- underneath 15 Mile Road -- which was in danger of collapsing. Supports have been added to that section of pipe to reinforce it.

The new pipe, manufactured in Texas, is made of a fiberglass polymer and is expected to have a usable lifespan of up to 200 years.

"For those residents who live in that area, the businesses operating there, your positive attitude and your understanding during this challenging time has been nothing short of amazing," Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller said in a statement. "Thank you for your support during this challenging time."

All repair work is expected to be completed by September 30. The target for the re-construction of 15 Mile Road and other restoration work is around Thanksgiving.

Twenty Fraser families were temporarily displaced, three homes were condemned, and roads were shut down because of the sinkhole that formed when a sewer line collapsed on Christmas Eve.