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© John KoziolScott Bridges, a groundskeeper at Union Cemetery in Laconia, stands Thursday behind the large sinkhole that was created eight days earlier.
Officials are trying to act fast to repair a sinkhole in Union Cemetery that is coming dangerously close to several plots where the ashes of the deceased are buried.

Groundskeeper Scott Bridges said the sinkhole, which is about 30 feet wide and 8 feet deep, occurred during last week's torrential rainstorm on Sept. 30 at about 4 p.m. The pipe that broke was more than 65 years old, and Bridges said the bottom of one section rotted out and caused the collapse.

Over the past several days, the hole has continued to widen ever so slightly, and the hope is to get the broken pipe replaced and the hole filled as soon as possible. He said the goal is to have it done before the next major rainstorm, and he assumes work will begin within the next week or so.

"Right now, it seems to be maintaining, but if we get any more rain and bad weather, that could be bad," said Bridges. "The hole will get bigger because the soil is so loose, and it will collapse more. As long as we don't get a really bad rainstorm, we should be OK."

Bridges could not guess the exact amount that this will cost to fix, but he said "it will be a whole lot of money." WMUR recently reported that Union Cemetery Board President John Perley said the worst-case scenario would be $100,000 and Bridges said that was as good an estimate as any.

The sinkhole is at the south end of the cemetery and is currently blocked with caution tape. A broken pipe with some water in the hole is visible. Bridges said about 60 feet of piping will need to be replaced immediately; however, he added that years down the road they will need to replace the entire pipe to avoid any further problems.

"Eventually, they're going to have to replace all 300 feet," said Bridges. "That will be another phase for whenever they can afford it. The cemetery is nonprofit, so whatever money they have is tight, financially. Everything will have to be done in stages."

Bridges said Jim Lyman of John H. Lyman and Sons, an excavating company from Gilford, was at the cemetery on Wednesday morning to assess the damage. He was there with an engineer to plan the fix, and Bridges said all the permits are in place. Bridges said what they will need to do is cut back some of the areas where the broken pipe is visible and replace it with a new pipe, and then fill the hole back in.

"It's just a matter of him getting the material together and getting started," said Bridges. "It's quite a job for them to do."

Bridges said their main focus is making sure none of the burial sites are affected. The sinkhole is within five feet of where four urns are buried with headstones only a few feet away.

This is not the only damage that the cemetery is dealing with. On the northern side of the cemetery, Durkee Brook is eroding rapidly. Bridges said this has been going on for a long time, but last week's storm brought the water level so high that it caused significant damage. Several large tree stumps that were catching debris and causing water levels to rise were removed from the brook.

The bank of the brook is very close graves, with Lyman's father's gravesite within only 3 feet. There is also a large mausoleum near the brook, and if it is not fixed, it could become an issue. Bridges expects that Lyman will help fill that area sometime soon after the sinkhole is filled.

Bridges said no gravesites have been damaged.

"Everyone is glad about that," Bridges said. "There are a lot of people who have come down to ask if their grave is OK, and I would, too. But it's really those four sites next to the sinkhole to be worried about."