Water Main Break Leads To Sinkhole on David Cox Road

CHARLOTTE, NC -- A water main break along David Cox Road created a large sinkhole Thursday morning, according to reports..

While city water officials have turned off the water, the road will be closed all day for repairs, Charlotte Water said.

The Queen City has 4,209 miles of water mains, ranging from 8-inches to 102-inches in diameter that it must maintain, according to Charlotte Water. (Sign up for our free daily newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Charlotte Patch. iPhone users can download the Patch app in the App Store. Plus, like Charlotte Patch on Facebook.)

According to Charlotte Water, some of the reasons pipes break are because:

• Construction crews hitting mains during groundbreaking
• Ground movement
• Corrosive soil conditions
• Weaknesses where two pipes are joined together, that start as slow leaks and can lead to big problems
• Weight of soil constantly pushing down on pipes
• Aging infrastructure,
• Weak seals
• Temperature change that can cause the soil to expand and contract putting stress on the pipes
• Normal aging
• Surprisingly, even water has corrosive properties and can break down the inside of the pipe over a long period of time