DETROIT – There is a large sinkhole -- large enough to swallow a car, or two -- in the middle of Linwood near Monterey Avenue in Detroit.

The hole in the asphalt, which is about 30 feet wide, has forced crews to shut down Linwood in both directions.

The big black pipe is a gas line. The concern is the gas line could be compromised, but there is no smell of natural gas and no evacuations.

'Riser' break caused erosion in soil

According to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, a contractor had run a camera up a sewer line to check for ruptures when he noticed the pavement buckling at the intersection of Linwood and Monterey Avenue. He called in other crews while the pavement started to give way.

The break was in a "riser," which is part of the sewer system.

"That riser that lets the sewer drop down into our larger line collapsed," said Darryl Latimer, deputy director at the Water and Sewerage Department. "It eroded the soil over a period of time and caused a water main -- about an 8-inch water main -- to collapse."

The repairs could take a week or two, but it will depend on what crews find when they get down into the hole.

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