City crews working to stabilize sinkhole in Cardiff

An already large sinkhole on a cliff in the Cardiff area of Encinitas grew bigger after more than an inch of rain fell Friday, March 10, city officials said Saturday, March 11.

That means the work to fix it will take longer, now slated to run through April, the city said in a news release.

The sinkhole is on the western shoulder of Lake Drive, between Wales and Sea Village drives, in the vicinity of a 48-inch corrugated metal pipe that takes runoff from the road to the bottom of a canyon.

Officials didn’t say how much bigger the hole on Lake Drive had grown after 1.3 inches of rainfall Friday, but said crews were working over the weekend to shore it up and stabilize the bottom to prevent further erosion.

The city first learned of an erosion problem at the site on Jan. 17, according to a city staff report.

By the end of February, the sinkhole appeared. The city created a road detour and closed Lake Drive, with the repair work initially expected to take a month. Crews had to relocate all utilities at the site — gas, electric, water, and cable — than began shoring up the sinkhole.

Coming work includes reconstructing the embankment and rebuilding the drainage inlet. Crews will also have to reconstruct the drainage pipe, stormwater detention basin, roadway, and sidewalk, the city said.