A burst water main left Orange’s Joseph Tulikaki stranded in a sinkhole on Kenna Street on Monday.
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Mr Tulikaki was driving home when the road collapsed beneath his Mitsubishi Triton around 3.28am.
He said he was contacting Orange City Council over the damage to his car caused by the sinkhole.
“I’m currently filling in paper work to lodge a claim with the council for any damage on the vehicle but the questions they asked me indicated they are trying to shift blame away from themselves,” Mr Tulikaki said.
“One person I spoke with this morning questioned me on why I drove into the water, making me feel as though it was my fault their road collapsed.”
Mr Tulikaki said he was looking for quotes to repair the vehicle but said “I don't expect a large bill I'm just more concerned about what we can't see”.
After police were called, a friend helped Mr Tulikaki recover the car.
Council’s spokesman Nick Redmond said a break in the water main happened around 3am.
“The damaged pipe was an older style cement pipe that had been in place for many years,” Mr Redmond said.
”Members of the council’s water crew were on the scene by around 3.30am to turn off nearby water valves,” he said.
“This quick response meant that the water supply was back in action for all nearby residents by the time they were ready to start the day.”
“Water was confined to the roadway and no water flowed into nearby properties,” he said.
Mr Redmond said the Kenna Street and Wentworth Lane intersection was being re-aligned to improve traffic flow with new kerb and guttering completed.
"The road work had reached the stage where it was open to traffic but it had not been re-sealed,” he said.
“The repairs crew faced a difficult challenge.
“The water main had been installed beneath a large storm water drain running under the roadway.”
The damaged pipe is located 1.5 metres below the road surface, a heavy-duty PVC pipe has replaced the broken pipe.
“It’s difficult to say what caused the pipe to break, but there had not been any work in the site for two or three days beforehand,” Mr Redmond said.
Mr Redmond said anyone can submit a claim if they believe there is damage to their property.
“These claims are handled at arm’s length by the council’s insurers.”