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- A hole in the street, which the city is calling a washout, formed near 9th and Farnam earlier this week
- City engineers say washouts are common at construction sites due to erosion
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) – A hole in the street, which the city is calling a washout, has formed near 9th and Farnam St., prompting nearby residents to move their vehicles and city crews to begin repairs.
The washout was noticed earlier this week on Farnam St. by a contractor for the city. A smaller washout has also been found near 12th and Harney.
Sue Jones said she learned about the problem when she arrived at the parking lot next to the Greenhouse Apartments on Tuesday.
“You have to move your car right away. There’s a sinkhole. And so, of course, knowing what was going on lately and hearing some bad things. I said, okay, ran and got my car and just pulled it over,” Jones said.
Neighbor Tom Fennell said the discovery felt familiar.
“Yeah, it certainly felt like, oh, this is another washout,” Fennell said.
The incident comes after a hole formed under a vacant building and Farnam St. in Blackstone on Sunday.
Omaha City Engineer Austin Rowser said the situation at 9th and Farnam is different from that incident. He said washouts are common at construction sites.
“Anytime we expose soil and it gets rained on. This happens on, literally, every job that we do within the city of Omaha, within the right of way, so erosion happens. It’s a fact of erosive soils, and Midwest rainfall,” Rowser said.
City crews removed a steel plate that had been used as an entrance to a parking garage across the street, and Jones and her neighbors moved their vehicles there. Rowser said the plate was removed to make space to fix the washout.
Jones said she is leaving her vehicle in that lot for now.
“Nothing’s changed that I know of, haven’t heard any updates,” Jones said.
Omaha Public Works said concrete is scheduled to be poured over streetcar rails at the site next week, though the washout may result in a delay of the concrete pour by a couple of days.
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