Traffic was delayed on West Newberry Road after a 60-foot sinkhole collapsed the eastbound lane early Wednesday morning.
At about 5 a.m., Newberry city officials were made aware of a water-pressure problem. Newberry City Manager Mike New said shortly after that the utility director found a sinkhole that plummeted 20 feet into the ground.
In addition to consuming more than half of the eastbound lane, the sinkhole damaged the city’s main water pipe, which transports nearly 600 gallons of water to Newberry citizens per minute.
When officials found the damaged pipe, it was leaking water into the hole. New said from the time they received the notification that the water pressure dropped to when they found the leak, it had only been about an hour.
New said although they had to replace about 40 feet of the main pipe Wednesday, it will take much longer to repair the road itself.
“The greater damage is just to the state road,” New said. “There’s a hole there that’s 20 feet deep and 60 feet in diameter. That’s pretty extensive repair from the state’s perspective.”
Alongside deputies from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, officials from Florida Department of Transportation helped assess the sinkhole’s damage and helped direct traffic around it.
FDOT is considering the incident a washout, which occurs when a damaged water pipe washes away the sand and soil in the area, causing the land to cave in on itself.
Before proceeding with any repairs, however, Newberry officials turned off the main water pipe’s valve, a process which took four hours in total. Once off, FDOT was able to help assess the damage.
“The area that is being worked on this afternoon is a washout,” said Tracy Hisler-Pace, FDOT’s northeast Florida public information director. “Currently, the city and FDOT are working on fixing the sinkhole together.”
For about 18 hours Wednesday, citizens of the western quadrant of Newberry — nearly 400 people — did not have access to water. As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, they regained access.
According to state law, citizens will be under a boil warning until city tests don’t pick up any bacteria in the water for two consecutive days.
“They’re going to be advised to boil the water they’re going to be utilizing for consumption until we can clear it,” New said. “It probably won’t clear until Friday morning.”
Contact Adam Turner at aturner@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter: @fladam98.
Construction workers from Newberry utilities pour concrete to fill a 20-foot deep sinkhole that opened on West Newberry Road on Wednesday morning.
