When Janet Katinowsky returned to work Wednesday after celebrating her mother’s birthday over a long lunch, the doors to Premier Foot & Ankle Associates in Wyomissing were locked.
She figured this might happen.
As she was leaving the office she noticed people gathering around a small indentation in the middle of Abington Drive behind the Wyomissing Hills Professional Center. She thought the detour would probably cause some headaches for patients.
But she never anticipated it would be as bad as what she saw two hours later.
“The hole was the size of my van,” she said. “It was pretty crazy. I’m just relieved that no one was driving on it when it crumbled.”
Katinowsky was back at the scene Thursday, watching about a dozen construction workers bustle around the site where a water-main break that officials say was potentially linked to crews replacing gas lines in the area Monday may have led to the formation of a large sinkhole.
The office remained closed because of the water outage, but she was taking advantage of the peace and quiet to catch up on paperwork.
“Without a working bathroom we can’t have patients in here,” she said. “It’s a pain for them, but our clients understand why we have to stay closed. We’re just hoping to get service back as soon as possible.”
Terry Maenza, director of communications for Pennsylvania American Water, said crews worked around the clock to fix the water-main break. He said Thursday that it’s still unclear what exactly caused the sinkhole.
Abington Drive, which connects Cheltenham Drive and Wellington Boulevard, is expected to remain closed to traffic for several days. There are homes along one side of the street and the Wyomissing Hills Professional Center along the other.
Water was restored to eight residences and two commercial buildings by 4 p.m. Thursday. Maenza said cases of bottled water were given to the affected customers while they waited for service to return.
Maenza said crews initially had trouble excavating the site to find solid ground before work on the broken water main could begin.
Complicating the job was a broken sewer line.
Maenza said the sewer line, which is owned by the borough, had to be repaired first. It was mended around noon on Thursday and then stone was added to the site to create a bed for about 80 feet of new water piping.
A boil-water advisory has been put in place as a precaution, Maenza said. He said the advisory will be lifted once water samples from two consecutive days come back with no signs of bacteria.
Maria Fiorentino, one of the residents impacted by the water outage, said she’s been pleased with the quick response to the situation.
“I know they’re working hard to get this fixed so I feel better about the whole thing,” she said.
Contact Karen Shuey: 610-371-5081 or kshuey@readingeagle.com.