Crane used to pull bus out of sinkhole to cost Pittsburgh $88,000

Pittsburgh officials said it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for repairs and other costs associated with the giant sinkhole that opened up in October at 10th and Penn avenues in Downtown and swallowed the back end of a Port Authority bus.

It is going to cost the city about $88,000 just to pay for the crane used to pull the bus out of the sinkhole.

City Council on Tuesday introduced legislation that would authorize payment of $88,150 to Allegheny Crane Rental for the 300-ton crane necessary to remove the 14-ton bus from the hole.

The bus was stopped for a traffic light at the intersection shortly before 8 a.m. Oct. 28 when the street collapsed beneath it. Its rear end fell in, leaving the vehicle standing partially upright against the edge of the hole. The driver and one passenger escaped without injury.

“This is going to be a very long process,” said Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, who represents Downtown. “There will be numerous pieces of legislation that will probably have to come before council to pay for the various costs. It will probably be hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The mishap damaged multiple utility lines in addition to the street, which cannot reopen until the work is finished. Tim McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto, said Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal, which supplies steam heat to Downtown buildings, is working to repair its lines and equipment.

Tenth Street will remain closed until at least early February, McNulty said.

“Right now, all the work is being done by PACT,” he said. “They’re hoping to have their work done by early February.”

Pittsburgh officials have yet to pinpoint what caused the hole and have said they may never know for certain.

The Port Authority repaired the bus and it is back in operation.

The sinkhole — about 75 feet long and 15 feet deep — made national news and has become the object of humor among local cynics.

People wore Halloween costumes fashioned after the bus and bakeries offered cookies with a half-buried bus on the top. Residents at Christmas created yard displays and ornaments. At least three entries in the city’s annual gingerbread house display featured the sinkhole.