I just checked on what the utility workers are up to, and YIKES!!!!

[Siwsan]

It’s just never a good sighting when you look outside and see a utility company has dug a MASSIVE and DEEP hole in your across the street neighbor’s yard (including taking out a big piece of the driveway), and one guy is standing there, scratching his head as he stares down into that MASSIVE and DEEP hole.

[grumpyduck]

1. H P Lovecraft comes to mind.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Pix? We want to be sure they're following OSHA guidelines for proper trenching.

Trenching and Excavation

[ret5hd]

3. "Yep...there's a nest o' pipe lizards down there."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/08/04/watch-where-you-sit-iguana-found-inside-florida-toilet/%3foutputType=amp

[niyad]

4. Definitely NOT a good or hopeful sign.

You might want to consider filling your tubs and sinks, and whatever containers you have, and ensuring you have all the candles and generators you need. Maybe a bag of ic for your freezer. Just in case.

[Siwsan]

5. I have a well, but I'm pretty sure that house doesn't.

This house was once at the very back of the development an all of the original houses have wells.

Every house built in the expansion is on the township water system.

[Fla Dem]

6. When they did that to my paver driveway it was because a water pipe broke.

It was actually the water pipe for the development's sprinkler system. So the HOA had to hire people to dig the hole and repair the pipe. In order to do that a fairly large segment of my paver driveway at the bottom had to be removed. Also the leaking water had undermined the ground underneath the driveway causing a part of my driveway to sink.

[Siwsan]

8. That house is in a later part of the subdivision. I'm pretty sure it's on the township water line.

I'm right on the border of the 'original' section and we have wells.

Hopefully, if that IS a water line issue, they notified the rest of the people in that section of the subdivision.

[marble falls]

7. What's going on in his head - "Are you sure its 1440 WEST Elm St?"

[peacefreak2.0]

9. It sounds like my front lawn last year.

I moved into my duplex last year and mentioned to my landlord a problem with a slow drain. The water would also back up when there was a heavy rain. They sent a plumber in to snake everything. No better. By the time it was done, my front lawn had a hole 10 feet deep and out to the road.
They finally found the problem. There had been upgrades done on the water lines a few years back. Unfortunately, they never hooked the water back up to my place. Nobody knew, because my side had been empty for a couple of years.
Oy vey, Maria!

[Siwsan]

10. The back hoe is filling up a gigantic dump truck.

Somehow I suspect they won't be finished by tonight.

There sure is a lot of big equipment, parked out there. Fortunately I have an alternative way to get out of the subdivision.

[FSogol]

11. Could be the sanitary line caved in. That happened to 3 people in my neighborhood.

It doesn't cost much to replace the line, but the excavation to dig up the line can cost $3000-$5000.

Our power company sell insurance for water line replacement and sanitary line replacement for $8 a month. After all the failures around me, I sprang for the insurance.

[House of Roberts]

12. One guy is standing there?

It usually takes a crew of five to six doing nothing to support a backhoe and operator.

[Siwsan]

13. The rest were watching him scratch his head. Then one of them got on his phone.

Things seem to have settled down, for now. The huge dump truck full of dirt and concrete, and the back hoe, are gone - for now. And, it's suspiciously quiet so maybe they've left for a lunch break. HOPEFULLY they put up many red cones and bright yellow tape. There are a LOT of senior citizens in this neighborhood - even more senior than me!

[Ocelot II]

14. Probably sewer work. I have also been in utility hell for more than a week.

The gas company is replacing main gas lines on my street and under the sidewalks and installing outdoor gas meters at houses that don't have them (including mine). This means digging huge holes in the street and removing big chunks of sidewalk for a stretch of about six blocks, which means jackhammers and enormous vehicles going back and forth, starting around 8:00 a.m. To install the new outdoor gas meter they had to use some kind of auger to dig under my yard almost to the very back of the house, a process that made the whole house vibrate. They finished with my block yesterday except for patching the holes in the sidewalk and have moved to the next block, but I can still hear the racket from the jackhammers and machines.

Strangely, all this commotion doesn't seem to have fazed Mr. Cat at all. I find him sleeping on his comfy porch chair every morning, and he always greets me with a friendly hiss when I bring him his breakfast.

[mopinko]

15. they're at the end of my block. i dont want to know.

it's water, which means they're digging around the parkway trees. had 2 big ones come down already.

i do have machine envy, tho. i have a cantankerous old bobcat that i cant find anyone to work on.
their shiny new machines make me sigh.

[Ocelot II]

16. I thought bobcats were cantankerous by nature.

[mopinko]

17. i think a live bobcat would be easier to get along with.

i still dont get it. they're simple machines.

[Siwsan]

18. This is a HUGE project.

All of the big equipment is back and I have lost count of how many truck loads of soil and pavement they've taken away.

After they're gone, I'll take a photo. I feel so bad for this neighbor. She always works so hard to keep the property up. She's done some beautiful landscaping. Fortunately, that's closer to the house.

[Akoto]

19. If it's in their yard, maybe something to do with septic tank? Dunno.

We had one (I live in my late grandmother's house) and when it gave up, we switched to city water but I don't think we had to have the tank moved. Then again, maybe it's different if it ruptures or something.

That's just a wild guess. Maybe it's the lizard people.

[Siwsan]

20. We're all connected to a city sewer system

The work is being done right next to the road, so no doubt it's a sewer or water issue.

[Worried2020]

21. Are there any trees near their driveway?

.

It is not uncommon for tree roots to surround and crush water lines, sewer lines, even underground hydro and telephone lines.

If they discover roots around a damaged line, they need to cut back more than a few inches to prevent further damage.

Sometimes they end up removing the whole tree.

THAT'S beaucoup $$$$$$$

W

[Siwsan]

22. No trees

They dug up right next to the curb, AND there's a manhole cover in the yard. I did see what looked like a length of pipe brought up out of the chasm. Amazingly, everything but the driveway is right back in place with a relatively small area that will need re-sodding.

All in all, this was a very impressive bit of work.

[FakeNoose]

23. Older cities are having to replace underground sewers

I live in Pittsburgh and many of our older neighborhoods were built before the 1920's. So the original builders never anticipated a lot of things, such as the water runoff from big storms. They didn't foresee the population growth that would overload the pipes and water treatment plants.

The upshot was that every time we had a big storm (several times per year) the sewage and storm runoff would overflow straight into the Ohio River! This was obviously untenable for so many reasons. But it also meant a massive undertaking to dig up the entire system and rebuild it all, tearing up roads and properties along the way. It needed to be done neighborhood by neighborhood.

It has taken over 30 years to get all this done, and millions (perhaps billions) of tax dollars from the city, county and state to get this problem fixed. My point is that Pittsburgh isn't the only city to recognize this problem. I'm sure the same thing is happening elsewhere, especially among the older, eastern cities.

[Siwsan]

24. This development was built on what was once farm land, in the mid to late 1960's

I live in the original development area and have a well. I'm going to guess that, at one time, these houses had septic tanks but everyone is now hooked into the county sewer lines.

The house where they were doing the digging is in a newer build area and those house are hooked up to the township water line.

The piece of pipe I saw, yesterday, looked like a water pipe, to me.