ALBION - A 25-mile stretch of the Erie Canal between Middleport and Holley remains closed today, as crews continue to work on finding and repairing the source of a sinkhole that opened up Monday between the south bank of the canal and an adjoining road.
State Canal Corp. spokesman R.W. Groneman said today that the canal was closed Thursday to allow the waterway to be drained for repair crews to work. The canal is normally 12 feet deep at most locations.
Groneman said the Canal Corp. may begin to refill the canal between Middleport and Medina on Saturday, but that 6-mile area won't be open for navigation.
The sinkhole, which took 200 tons of rock to fill, opened up at about 9:30 p.m. Monday. It was believed to have been caused by a longstanding but undetected leak from the canal undermining the ground.
The water drained from the canal was allowed to flood into nearby farmers' parched fields, Groneman said.
The sinkhole, about 60 feet wide and 16 feet deep, closed Albion-Eagle Harbor Road between Gaines Basin Road and State Street in Albion, and also wiped out a section of the Erie Canalway Trail.
Today, large steel plates are being brought to the scene to form a temporary coffer dam to take pressure off the sinkhole area, Groneman said.
"There's never been any danger to life or property," Groneman said.
The Orleans County Highway Department said that even though Albion-Eagle Harbor Road is a county-owned road, the state Department of Transportation is handling the repair work.
