Fortunate Timing Helped East Wenatchee Fix Sink Hole

A sink hole in front of the Wendy's in East Wenatchee is no longer an issue after the city used a WSDOT road closure to explore what caused the sink hole. 

"We knew we had a pipe that had eroded away," said East Wenatchee Mayor Jerrilea Crawford. "We wanted to get a better look at that. So, while the DOT closed down that road, it gave us time to say let's get in and look at this piece, so we don't have to close down the road again." 

East Wenatchee crews got to work on the project during a window when WSDOT had closed the SR 28 bypass for a separate project. 

The bypass was closed in front of the Fred Meyer store on Nov. 10 to let construction crews fix a portion of the highway that had buckled because of water seepage. 

A failed portion of storm water pipe was also dug up and replaced. 

During the closure, East Wenatchee crews examined the sink hole in front of Wendy’s. Mayor Crawford says the city’s plumbing issue turned out to be much worse critical than what WSDOT dealt with. 

“Our pipe was in really bad shape,” Crawford said. “There’s a basin that collects the storm water that had completely filled up and was no longer collecting storm water. So, we had a potential serious issue going on.” 

City crews got busy and made the needed underground repair work in front Wendy’s. They wrapped up the project before the DOT finished work on SR 28. 

The bypass reopened after seven days on Nov.17. 

Crawford thinks the city had fortunate timing to fix the sink hole near Wendy’s before the problem became much more severe.