A huge sinkhole that won’t stop growing has shut down a stretch of Highway 101 in coastal Oregon.
“It’s massive. There’s just no other way to describe it,” Jared Castle, Department of Transportation spokesman for southwest Oregon, told NBC News.
The state closed down part of 101 in Harbor, Oregon, on Thursday night due to the sinkhole, which is the second sinkhole in as many months in the area. The first one opened on Dec. 13 in a restaurant parking lot next to the highway and, like Thursday’s sinkhole, just kept growing.
The two sinkholes “probably have now met,” Castle said, creating one gaping hole in the highway.
U.S. 101 in #Harbor (MP 358) will close at 9 p.m. due to a #sinkhole — Watch for advance signs for the detour. pic.twitter.com/eT80vu1nLk
— OregonDOT (@OregonDOT) January 29, 2016
“It’s a monster,” he said. Officials did not know how big it was, but said its depth exceeds 60 feet.
There have been no injuries or evacuations, and officials have re-routed traffic to a detour that runs parallel to the highway, which Castle says will only add 5 or 10 minutes to drivers’ commutes.
A south view of the #Harbor #sinkhole located west of U.S. 101. A detour goes into effect at 9 p.m. tonight. pic.twitter.com/oRGvScD6J2
— OregonDOT (@OregonDOT) January 29, 2016
The sinkholes formed after a series of heavy rains pounded the Oregon coast, causing a landslide north of Harbor and shutting down other highways due to debris flow.
Sinkholes and landslides frequently occur in the region because of the geology of the area, Castle said.
Drone video of the #Harbor #sinkhole south of #Brookings courtesy of Kyle Rice (kyle0440) https://t.co/Qs1GSxtMZZ
— OregonDOT (@OregonDOT) January 29, 2016
“It’s just part of the battle of having the Oregon Coast Highway located where it’s at. It’s a road built in a place where Mother Nature never intended for there to be a road,” he said.
Transportation workers have been “gently” trying to repair the sinkhole for the last month, but now are bringing in heavy equipment, Castle added. The stretch of Highway 101 is expected to reopen by March.
I got a suggestion of who we could use to fill it with
Must have been ISIS……
.
LOL… had just copied the link to send this one in when it popped up in my e-mail.
Fracking?
Harrp must have created the hole! Those son’s of bitches!
It’s Jerry Brown’s @sshole(s). He should declare another mental state of emergency.
Since he’s having such a hard time with that methane leak hole.
He better have that sht fixed before spring tourist season.
Or he’ll have to declare a state of emergency on his personal sink hole.
Hey hey, I was just by there two days ago on my way to Grocery Outlet across the street … it’s NOT looking good and I suspect once it dries out the whole pipe down-stream to the Ocean will need to be dug-up and replaced by something much bigger as the run-off from up-stream has increased due to the various developments the county has allowed / permitted!
The By-pass is going to be a real nasty Bear;~(((
Ka-Ching … ‘One Out of Many’ so we will ALL be paying for their mistakes;~(((