The general manager of Eastex Collision Repair said the cost to repair the driveway eroded by the fire hydrant leak was estimated at $20,000.
HOUSTON, Texas — You can expect to find puddles the day after a rain shower, but the puddles just outside Eastex Collision Repair aren't caused by rain.
“This is a typical day for us here. If you look here, you can see the water is still flowing,” said Michael Groh, Eastex Collision Repair General Manager.
Grow said someone knocked over a fire hydrant about three months ago, and water started leaking and wouldn't stop.
“It flows all day long, flows down, flows through here,” Groh said.
The sidewalk where the fire hydrant was located is now covered in water and dirt.
“You can see all the cracks. Water is just being pumped out,” he said.
That water is now eroding the company's driveway.
“We had to put up cones because we were worried that people would drive through and drag rocks out onto the narrow road and our customers would hit someone,” Groh said.
Groh said he even reached out to the city and county, but that didn't lead anywhere. So they decided to take matters into their own hands.
“It was getting so bad that we ended up putting a section of pipe over it and tightening it down, but that didn't stop the leak,” Groh said.
Groh worries that the situation will get worse if nothing is done.
“This happens every morning. There's a puddle like this. We try to clean it up, and then, by the end of the day, it's all over again,” he said. . “I'm worried about sinkholes. You know, big trucks come through here every day, so what happens if one day a big truck comes with a load of cars and pops out from underneath?”
On Monday afternoon, City of Houston officials isolated the leak to minimize the amount of water. He said crews returned Tuesday to begin repairs and that recovery would begin in the coming days.
Grow said he has received an estimate to repair the driveway, where leaks have eroded the pavement, and the cost is expected to be about $20,000.
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