Marion Street has the road closed while crews start work on clearing a sinkhole. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

MARIETTA — On Monday, Marietta City Council’s joint Water and Sewer and Streets Committee meeting focused on critical infrastructure issues, particularly the growing sinkhole on Marion Street.

Officials provided updates, assessments, and proposed solutions for addressing the escalating problem.

Project Manager for the Public Works Department Amanda Rinehart gave a presentation where the city engineers and contractors presented photographic evidence of the damage, outlining its progression and the structural risks involved. A field inspection revealed that the storm sewer system, comprised of aged limestone blocks, has deteriorated significantly, with mortar disintegrating and voids forming, allowing water infiltration and soil displacement.

According to the report, there was a set of pictures showing the initial collapse, and then there was the second phase of the problem: The integrity of the storm sewer was compromised. Rinehart said the team was looking for the cause of the sinkhole but it would take time to determine once a property the city has purchased near the sinkhole is demolished.

“We’re assuming, once we get it excavated, I’m going to go back in the tunnel and take a bunch of measurements and mark everything so we can actually locate it.” said Rinehart. “This is kind of just estimating, because we can’t really tell you. Once we get the house down, we get the hole opened up more, I’m going to go back.”

Crews work to clear out the sinkhole on Marion Street in Marietta on Wednesday afternoon. (Photo by Gwen Sour)

Council also brought up concerns on how the sinkhole would impact nearby infrastructure with several council members citing they were beginning to see cracks in the foundations of nearby houses. Additionally, there were concerns around the cost of the project. Rinheart stated that she met with Mitch Dimmerling, the budget and procurement director for Marietta, to discuss what the budget could look like, however, the funds would be taken from the 2025 project budgets and unappropriated funding.

“We found between our available project dollars and a transfer of unappropriated money…we found about $547,563 we can use toward this project,” said Rinehart.

Councilman Ben Rutherford, who is the chair of the Water, Sewer and Sanitation Committee, brought up his concerns about how this project would be fixed past the dollar amount and asked what the actionable steps to fix the infrastructure at the sinkhole’s location would be.

Rineheart said the complexity of the excavation and replacement work will require careful coordination; contractors and city crews must secure and suspend water and sewer lines while excavating to prevent service disruptions. Engineering teams will remain on-site throughout the process to monitor and address emerging issues in real-time.

The demolition of an affected property on-site is set to begin soon, allowing further excavation. The city aims to complete an in-depth inspection post-demolition to determine the final repair strategy.

Council will need to pass a resolution to enter into contract for any work associated with the repair project and will present it as an emergency at the next council meeting.

Gwen Sour can be reached at gsour@newsandsentinel.com