Gwinnett County sinkhole temporarily fixed

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

People living in the Sweetbriar Glen townhome community in Gwinnett County are now free to come and go in their cars.

A water line break Friday created a sinkhole about half the width of the only street leading out of the complex. Residents could walk out but engineers didn’t think the remaining road around the 20-foot-by-20-foot sinkhole was strong enough to support cars until temporary repairs were made.

“It’s all repaired and drivable,” Dale Denny, director of field operations for Liberty Community Management, said Saturday.

Crews worked in the rain Saturday morning, removing debris from storm drains. Denny said he could not make the permanent fixes, however, until the ground dries.

Sweetbriar Glen is a 44-unit townhome complex built on both sides Magnolia Glen Walk.. The complex was built in 2005 with units selling for $155,000 to $165,000, said homeowners’ association president Michael McComber.

The homeowners’ association, not Gwinnett County , owns the damaged asphalt street and the water line underneath the road, so they must pay to fix it.

Denny estimated the cost at $15,000 to $20,000

Resident Abdul Steele said he contacted the homeowner’s association Thursday afternoon when he noticed water “pouring out of the ground,” but no repairs were made. By Friday morning, the sinkhole had spread halfway across the street and carved a muddy cave about 4 feet deep under Steele’s driveway

“I’m worrying about my house sinking, the foundation giving away,” Steele said. “The sinkhole is about two feet from my house.”