MADERA - A little after noon Monday, a sink hole opened up on Schnoor Avenue just north of West Fourth Street near Howard Road. At first Madera Police observed a two foot hole that grew into a 20 foot by 20 foot hole within minutes. Once Madera maintenance workers were able to get a good look at the damage they could see the dirt underneath the road surface had eroded over fifty feet to the south of the initial damage.

The main sewer trunk that stretches from Cleveland Avenue to the Madera sewer facility had ruptured at the spot of the damage. It is not known at this time how long the soil has been eroding from beneath the road but officials think the main damage may have come from this last weekend's heavy rains.

Our city sewer lines are regularly inspected with video cameras to insure that incidents like this are caught before they grow this large. It is not known at this time the last time this section of the main sewer trunk was inspected but it did take eight city workers and a wench over twenty minutes to remove the rusted manhole cover.

Schnoor Avenue will be closed between West Fourth and West Fifth Streets while the damage is being repaired. A supervisor at the scene thought the damage could be fixed by the end of the week, but made no promises about how long this main traffic artery will be closed.

If you can avoid the area, you should try. We are concentrating on how lucky it is that no one was injured in this incident.

MORE PHOTOS ON BVN'S FACEBOOKPAGE