Jun 3, 2015 2 min read

CHARLEROI – Aging and collapsing sanitary sewers are causing erosion that is collapsing portions of Route 88 in downtown Charleroi.

The borough suspects the lateral sewer pipes that connect buildings to the main line are leaking, creating small streams under the road and causing sinkholes to form along the curbs, Charleroi Borough Manager Donn Henderson said.

“It’s a 100-year-old infrastructure,” Henderson said Wednesday as a pipeline cleaning company worked to clean out the main sewer line under the road also known as Fallowfield Avenue.

The state Department of Transportation directed traffic to one side of Route 88 in Charleroi to divert it away from the collapsing road as it awaits a determination on how to repair the road.

Henderson said the borough was investigating the problem and cost of making repairs to the sewer system.

U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-9th District, toured the downtown last week and said there were serious problems with the major road through the town. He vowed to seek state and federal money to help offset the cost of repairing the road.

The state Department of Transportation confirmed that the lateral lines have collapsed in places under the road, and officials believe there may be other pipes that need to be replaced, PennDOT spokeswoman Valerie Petersen said. Petersen said PennDOT is awaiting cost estimates to repair the problems and will share some of the expense of fixing them under the road.

“We’re committed to working with them,” she said.