Eastbound I-80 reopens after emergency sinkhole repairs
The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has announced that the eastbound lane of I-80 has reopened to traffic after emergency sinkhole repairs were completed.
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The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has announced that the eastbound lane of I-80 has reopened to traffic after emergency sinkhole repairs were completed.
Crews worked around the clock through the holiday weekend and in inclement weather to repair the 40-foot by 40-foot sinkhole that appeared on Thursday morning near Exit 34 in Wharton. The sinkhole was caused by the collapse of an abandoned mineshaft.
The 40-foot by 40-foot sinkhole caved in Thursday morning just after Exit 34 on the shoulder in Wharton and very close to an apartment complex as well.
The NJDOT says the cause was an abandoned mineshaft that collapsed. These grounds, mined for their iron ore and various minerals centuries ago, are being dug up but now for major infrastructure repairs. According to the NJDEP there are over 400 abandoned mines in New Jersey.
To stabilize and reconstruct the interstate the NJDOT says they installed a wire mesh, added stone and concrete layer then topped with addition fill and paved with several layers of asphalt. They also say the slope was reconstructed.
For five days, drivers have been detoured onto Routes 46 and 15 causing traffic, delays and adding time to commutes.
"I've been taking 46 to get to work," says Gus Schiavo of Rockaway. "And then on the way home, everybody's got to stop and look at the hole, so it takes another 20 minutes to get home."
But commuters won't have to deal with this much longer. Crews have been working around the clock through the holiday weekend and in inclement weather.
The sinkhole broke Thursday morning when an abandoned mineshaft collapsed.
Notable improvement from Saturday, when the cavern in the road was still visible.
