Yet another sinkhole has opened on I-80 in Morris County, New Jersey, threatening to extend an already-tedious reconstruction effort currently underway.
The soil instability near the interchange with Route 15 is blamed on abandoned mines beneath the highway that are slowly collapsing. The New Jersey Department of Transportation has been shoring up the eastbound lanes of I-80 to repair damage caused by sinkholes that formed earlier in the year. While drilling in the median, the NJDOT crew inadvertently uncovered a third, which threatens both east- and westbound lanes of the freeway.
“I-80 westbound is closed and detoured at Exit 34B in Wharton,” NJDOT posted on Facebook late Wednesday. “A 15-foot by 15-foot hole opened up in the median in the I-80 eastbound work zone.
“Out of an abundance of caution, NJDOT closed and detoured all lanes on I-80 westbound at Exit 34B/Route 15 northbound. We are in the process of evaluating the situation.”
The ongoing repair work on the eastbound lanes was already expected to take months longer to complete than initially anticipated. According to NJ.com, Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency in early March to expedite repairs due to the sinkhole that opened in February.
NJDOT crews are still evaluating the new sinkhole. The department has not yet provided any clues as to how much additional repair time will be necessary, or whether the westbound lanes will re-open during the stabilization effort.
The highlands of inland New Jersey are littered with abandoned mines. The hills around Wharton and Burton alone are home to dozens. The now-defunct Meadow Mine and Mt. Pleasant Mine both sat directly beneath where the I-80 interchange now sits, and the Baker Mine was just yards away.
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