LAKELAND, Fla. — A road project mystery at Wabash Avenue and 10th Street in the city of Lakeland has left contractors and city crews scratching their heads.

A new underground water pipe was recently installed at the intersection, before being covered with a new driving surface and sidewalks.

The project was completed in April, but now the intersection is once again a construction zone after the pipe burst, and engineers discovered signs of possible ground settling.

“That’s our big concern right now, is why is the ground settling and was that the reason for this pipe burst,” said city of Lakeland spokesman Kevin Cook. “So it’s kind of hard to say at this point in time exactly what happened, but our engineering crew says there is definitely settling there.”

In the coming days, he said crews are expected to take core samples at the intersection to determine why the ground is settling.  

Ground penetrating radar may also be brought in if core samples don’t give engineers enough answers.

At the intersection, it can be seen that the driving surface has sunk into the ground, as well as part of the shoulder, which was washed out by water from the burst pipe.

City officials also say curbs on both sides of the intersection have broken away from the roadway, indicating the settling may be occurring across the entire intersection.

A schedule has not been released on when repairs will be completed.

“This was all underground — there was settling — so you need to make sure you take care of that issue,” said Cook. “Do we need to put new fill dirt in? What else do we need to do there? So right now, I don’t have a time line estimate of when it will be completely repaired.”

Officials say the underground pipe and roadway above are all covered under warranty, so there should be no additional cost to the city of Lakeland.

The problems at Wabash and 10th are only causing minor traffic issues, and the city says no homes or businesses tied to the waterline that burst were impacted with a loss in water service.