Sidewalk / water meter sinkhole Archived

5208 Farm Pond Lane Columbia, Maryland Show on Map Hide Map
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Issue ID:

5745213

Submitted To:

Howard County, MD

Category:

Sidewalk Concern

Viewed:

54 times

Neighborhood:

Columbia

Reported:

on

Description

A sidewalk slab in front of my home that was replaced last fall already has a crack in it. This slab has a water meter vault which is supposed to be built up with bricks. When the slab was replaced, the bricks were discarded, and thus there is no support for the sidewalk around the vault. This is why the sidewalk cracked so quickly. Even worse, the soil next to the vault has been falling into the vault because the brick wall is gone. This has left a “micro-sinkhole” on my property next to the sidewalk.
This leaves me with two concerns. Can the vault fill with soil and flood with water and cause the meter to stop working? The second concern is more serious. What if someone accidentally trips on the micro-sinkhole and suffers an injury? Clearly the liability is with Howard County, but the determination of that will be expensive. To avoid this, should I keep dumping topsoil down the micro-sinkhole hoping to fill it with no regard for the meter?

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