‘Sinkhole de Mayo’ at Alpine School

SPARTA — They say timing is everything and fortunately, a three-feet long by two-feet wide sink hole in the driveway to Sparta’s Alpine School waited until after the morning rush last Thursday to open up.

All children were safely in their classrooms and buses had gone on to their next stops before portions of the driveway began to give way. The hole was at least three feet deep and appeared on the exit side of the driveway, forcing the closure of that portion of the driveway for the rest of Thursday and Friday.

A temporary exit from the school property had to be carved out through an easement in the neighboring Llewellyn subdivision next to the school.

Sparta’s Business Administrator Linda Alvarez called the mishap, “The sinkhole de Mayo,” which she said was a term she heard Saturday on a news broadcast referring to another sink hole problem.

Alvarez said as soon as school officials were notified of the Alpine sink hole, they called police, the township engineer, and the town’s Department of Public Works, all of whom converged on the scene to assess the situation. Testing was done and it was determined that water pipes under the driveway meant to funnel water to a storm drain were leaking and the build-up of water under the asphalt had caused it to crumble away.

“It was a real safety concern,” Alvarez said. “The integrity of the whole driveway was compromised and another hole was nearly ready to open up.”

Superintendent Dr. Thomas Morton said the problem was the kind of pipes used 50 years ago when the school was built. He said, “The corrugated metal pipes rusted and disintegrated over time and the water was leaking out all around them.” He said new piping and concrete water conduits will be installed. Contractors worked all day last Saturday to remove the old piping.

This week the sink hole has been graveled over, but the exit side of the driveway was still closed at the beginning of the week. Alpine Principal Mike Gregory said that drainage repair under the driveway will be completed on Saturday and there will be no access to the school at all that day. For next week, Gregory said the driveway will be usable but will still be only a gravel surface.

Gregory said on the Tuesday after Memorial Day, when the school is closed, the whole driveway will be re-paved and the repairs will be completed.

Alvarez said she has no idea at this point how much the repairs will cost the school district. However, she said, “This is exactly the reason the district needs to maintain a capital reserve account.” She said she has already made an application to the Department of Education for an emergency project, but does not realistically expect any financial assistance for the repairs.