Two weeks after a sinkhole swallowed a backhoe in downtown Montreal the city can offer no firm timeline as to when the street will be repaired.
On Aug. 5, construction crews were just beginning exploratory excavation of Ste-Catherine St. near Guy St. when a massive hole appeared. The backhoe fell in and was removed the following day.
Crews were digging to discover why water had been leaking into several buildings in the area, and once the backhoe was removed they learned that the sewer system and water mains were heavily damaged.
Many who live and work in the area were not surprised: that same block of Ste-Catherine St. had been closed earlier this year as construction crews repaired a 19th century sewer and discovered a water main that was supposed to supply the area was missing.
The city of Montreal has spent the past two weeks repairing the damaged pipework. It did not grant interviews on the topic, but said in a statement that there is no timetable for the construction for, and that it expects it will take at least another week to finish the job.
For Rahman Esmaili, the owner of Sharx pool bar – who said water was leaking onto his floor for days before the sinkhole appeared – that is not good enough.
"The physical damage caused by the water is around $50,000. Besides, we are losing two weeks of business," he said.
Other business owners agreed, saying very few tourists and residents are coming to that normally-busy part of town.
"I have three waiters on daytime and three nighttime," said restaurant manager Dominique Girard. "Now there are no more on daytime, because there's nobody who wants to sit in the middle of a construction site."
Noisy water pumps have been bad for business, she said.
“Some people call me to ask me if my windows are open or closed and I say, ‘Why?’ And they say because of the noise,” she said.
Several business owners and managers said they have lost several thousand dollars in business -- if not tens of thousands of dollars -- in the past two weeks.
