Brockton DPW truck drops 15 feet into collapsed culvert

BROCKTON, Mass. — A Brockton Department of Public Works truck fell into an opening on the street after a culvert collapsed on Tuesday late afternoon.

A call came in at around 4:15 p.m. reporting the truck had fallen into the massive hole outside Manning Tower off of West Elm Street, according to Brockton Fire Deputy Chief Joe Marchetti.

The driver of the truck was able to escape unscathed before firefighters arrived on scene. No one was injured.

According to Marchetti, the hole opened up after the roof of the culvert, which allows a river to run underneath the parking lot, collapsed due to the DPW’s work in the area. The truck was then partially swallowed by the hole, in an opening Marchetti says was about 15-feet deep and 20-by-20-feet wide.

“I wouldn’t call it sinkhole,” Marchetti said. “That usually implies a hole in the earth. In this situation, water runs under the parking lot. I’m not sure if a support failed or not – there are beams that span across the culvert.”

After firefighters got to the scene, it took crews three hours to remove the truck from the hole. A tow truck operated by Brockton-based Lynch’s Towing helped pull the heavy-duty vehicle from the opening.

“The Brockton Fire Department put one of Lynch’s towing members in a rescue harness,” Marchetti said. “We had ropes attached to him to keep him safe as he attached their chain onto the truck in order to pull it out.”

Crews remained on scene late into the evening to assess the damage. DPW officials say they’re securing the area around the hole and will get steal plates to cover the hole but as for repairs, they say they’re looking at a few months of work.

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