The Atlanta Watershed department is investigating why a sinkhole formed this morning in SW Atlanta, damaging a garbage truck.

The truck, hauling for a private company, was traveling west of Fair street when the pavement beneath collapsed.

It formed a six-feet-deep hole, and the left rear end of the truck fell into it.

No one was injured.

Watershed department spokeswoman Lillian Govus said the cause of the sinkhole was a breach in a large underground terracotta pipe. The pipe carried combined sewage – rain water and waste water. Govus said the pipe collapsed because of excessive flow due to recent rains.

She expects Fair street to be closed until Thursday morning when she said crews should be able to inspect and reopen it.

Separately, officials are trying to figure out how to get the truck out of the hole.