La Vida Local Irregular Notes on West End Life
By Rosanne Graef
Can Portland Be Saved? (Part 3)
Notes from the Underground
Sorry to have left you hanging for two whole months in the midst of the story of the sinkhole at the intersection of Salem and Clark. It’s one of those tales starring the familiar actors Gravity, Water, and Time.
For readers who may not be familiar with this section of Clark Street, it is on one of the steepest sections of any street on the peninsula. I have heard that only a couple of blocks of Walnut Street on Munjoy Hill are steeper.
The Clark-Salem Sinkhole
After expeditions into the local Portland underground with remote cameras and dyes in the vicinity of the sinkhole, the cause of the collapse was determined. A vertical section of plastic pipe had been joined perpendicularly to the main sewer line and the space around backfilled. Judging by the color of the plastic pipe at the collapse, this repair occurred within the past ten years. According to the equipment operator fixing the sinkhole, the colors of plastic pipe used over the years have changed. From white to pink to green. This facilitates a kind of dating system in future years.
Speculation is that over the intervening years, water flowing through the substrate beneath the street gradually loosened and washed away. Ultimately, the fill around the joined pipes subsided and caused the sinkhole.
This rather small episode leads one to wonder how firm the peninsular ground under Portlanders’ feet really is.
We’re all aware of the massive amounts of fill that were used over the course of over one hundred years to expand both sides of the peninsula towards Fore River, Portland Harbor, and Back Cove. Also, we’re all aware of the increasing severity of more frequent downpours that send rippling sheets of water racing from the high points of the peninsula toward sea level.
We’re all aware of gravity, entropy, frost heaving, settling, low-magnitude earthquakes, and heavy trucks driving through the city.
If you haven’t thought about these things for a while, or have never thought about them, now’s as good a time as any. Look around and think about the consequences of the passage of time on our underground infrastructure. You must have come upon some examples. The physical evidence is dug up all the time during construction season work on municipal and various utility projects.
What’s underground can’t be tucked away as out-of-sight-out-of-mind. Not when you’re up against Gravity, Water, and Time.
Read Part 1: Can Portland Be Saved
Read Part 2: Nothing more than a colorful collection of squiggles and arrows
It’s Not Too Late!
Did you miss Sparky the Fire Dog’s 70th birthday on March 18th, 2021?
How about Fire Prevention Week, October 3rd through 9th, 2021?
Or even Fire Protection Month in October 2021?
Aside from a brief mention in the “Inside Gray” column for October 15th, 2021, the Portland Press Herald included no mentions of Sparky, Fire Prevention Week, or Fire Prevention Month for the past 12 months.
Luckily, kids can still take part in the National Fire Safety Association’s challenges and become official members of Sparky’s Fire Safety Club at https://sparky.org.
Rosanne Graef lives in the West End and is a regular volunteer contributor. Email her at lavidalocalwen@gmail.com.
