Sewer main break caves in part of Bay Street in Downtown Jacksonville

JEA crews say repairs to a large hole that developed in the pavement on Bay Street near Maxwell House Downtown could take all week.

Crews were called at 9 Sunday night and worked through the night, says JEA spokeswoman Karen McAllister. She says they have to replace a main pipe of a gravity sewer line that’s 12 to 14 feet below street level.

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“It will take a lot of work here throughout the week because we’ll need to de-water. Being so close to the river, they’ll need to set up trench safety and excavation so that they can work safely,” she says.

McAllister describes the hole as a 3-foot-wide “cave out” of the roadway and says repairs will have to accommodate the groundwater table rising and lowering due to river tides.

That’s going to close westbound lanes and one eastbound lane on Bay Street during the repairs. Westbound traffic is being detoured along Lafayette Street to Adams Street.