Question regarding street storm drain/sewer

I have had a weird problem for awhile and finally figured out what's going on, and emailed city water and light dept, but it's the weekend and thought I'd ask if anyone has heard of this problem and if anyone knows what needs to be done.
On the edge of my yard, just inside the curb and next to the location of a storm drain box, I have been getting a small sinkhole, for lack of a better term, will vary (I keep filling it) from the size of a softball to the size of a bowling ball. I fill it in and the next rain it will start to grow.
Last June I decided to try something other than black dirt. I wanted to try some 3/4 but the local hardware store (a small Ace store) only had pea gravel in stock so I thought I'd try it, since it's a bit of a drive to get to a bigbox store to get bigger rock.
I little more sinking, a little more dirt this summer, not as bad but no big rain storms either.
Wednesday night we get some big t-storms, 3+ inches of rain and it's back. BUT! I now see pea gravel in the drain box, sort of between where one concrete pipe enters the box and the corner of the box. So evidently I have a situation where water is washing down outside the box and in to the box. So I'd assume the fix is to grout or somehow seal the concrete pipe joint. I don't know if they would do that from inside or outside, not crazy about excavating to do it from the outside, but has to be fixed somehow. I can post a picture, not doing anything until someone from the city looks at it.
Thanks all for reading
Gilly

 

sounds like washout,,, wtr collects then leaks into the storm drain trap system carrying along w/it soil hence the sinkhole,,, the fix is usually excavation & seal the joint between the cover & structure

 

I'd guess between the structure (collector box? Whatever you'd call the box under the grate), and the cement pipe that connects to it, that's where the water/gravel/dirt is entering the box, right in the corner next to where the pipe connects, like there is a large gap in that connection somehow.

 

Let's not get carried away here. When you're on a board like this you get advice and replys from pros as well as other members. Some members use little tact and have a somewhat brisk and gruff attitude in their responses.

We don't tolerate any members attacking other members. Rants are not allowed.

 

If the collection box is city property he can't fix it. If he doesn't get a response he should call a TV consumer help program.

 

Thanks, I just emailed them Sat so will see if I get a reply soon. I know $$ is tight but I don't think it can just be ignored either. To do it from the outside, to get down in there would seem like a job for a mini-excavator at least, must be 4-5 feet down?

 

I agree, see what your city says.

If they give you the run-around, you might be able to see where in the box the water is leaking in looking inside with a flashlight. Newer boxes are pre-cast concrete and would likely be around the pipes. But older boxes are stacked concrete or sometimes built from cement block (or brick around here). Depending on how deep the hole is, you might be able to patch it yourself from the outside without a lot of digging.

But it's the city's property - and their problem, so good luck. Be persistent!

 

Well 3 cheers for the City of Evansville (who has as much economic trouble as any other city), the director or whoever is in charge, sent an email that they will get it repaired as soon as possible. It was fixed before I got home!

 

Great news! Thanks for letting us know.

 

Did the city do a proper repair, by excavating down around the outside and then mortar-patching the pipe's connection voids? Or did they just send a little guy down inside the catch basin to patch what he could see from the inside?

BTW--It's a concrete pipe, not a cement pipe. Cement is a fluffy gray powder that comes in bags or bulk, and is one of the ingredients of concrete.

How about them Packers?

 

They just did it from the inside, we will see what happens, at least I know where the problem is now, it had me scratching my head for years. Let's assume they know how to do it just from inside the box. I wasn't looking forward to a huge hole in the lawn anyways.. They could have done something from the outside as well like pour cement down the hole? Not exactly Mike Holmes quality but might get the job done. There was a lot of concrete dust on the curb and street so I don't think they were down there with a caulking gun, LOL.

Yes 2-0 start including beating the Seahags, thumbs up.

Chicago should not have been that close, had me nervous.
Only other thing to report is I'm not in the camp that made up with Favre, will not ever really forgive him I guess, if I had my way would not have even retired the number.

 

Update, so far so good, no sinkhole yet and have a couple decent rains.

 

Thanx for the update. Just keep your fingers crossed on that repair. At least you know who to call if things go south.

And it's looking pretty good for the Big Green and Yellow. Even without Jordy Nelson, the Pack being at 5-0 makes a Superbowl visit more likely than most years. Let's hope.