Sinkhole

'Puddle’ turns out to be water on sinkhole that swallows SUV

FORT WORTH — Carl Aasletten thought he was approaching just another puddle.

He was about a block from his house, in the 3000 block of Owenwood in the Tanglewood neighborhood northwest of TCU, when he decided to make what he called a "lazy left turn" onto Harlanwood Drive.

But that innocent-looking puddle turned out to be water resting on top of a sinkhole that swallowed his Chevrolet Tahoe, headlights deep.

"It wasn’t a torrential amount of water," he said. "It was just enough water not to alarm you."

After a few attempts, a tow truck company eventually got his car out of the hole using a truck with a boom after about four hours.

The city water department expected to have the 8-inch cast iron line that caused the mishap repaired shortly after midnight. The street will remain closed, though, until crews have a chance to repair the damage.

Mary Gugliuzza, a water department spokeswoman, said the water main pipeline beneath the street had ruptured before Aasletten got there, and the leaking water washed out the dirt under the asphalt.

When Aasletten drove over the spot, the weight of the SUV punctured the asphalt causing it to sink.

It could have been worse for Aasletten, though.

The pipe that caused the sink hole also kept the SUV from falling farther into the hole — crews found that the front left tire was resting on the pipe once they drained the hole.

Gugliuzza said the incident should serve as a reminder to avoid suspicious puddles like the one that swallowed the SUV.

"If you see the water bubbling up out of the pavement, don’t drive through it," she said. "You don’t know what the situation is underneath." FORT WORTH — Carl Aasletten thought he was approaching just another puddle. ... more

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