A 20 foot wide sinkhole has opened up in a field right near Highway 127, and local residents say that it is still growing.Crews will begin work today to repair a sinkhole near U.S. Highway 127 in Bledsoe County's Cold Springs community, according to officials.
Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn said the hole - which Bledsoe County Mayor Bobby Collier said is now about 20 feet wide and 30 feet deep - will be repaired with rock. Crews will use increasingly smaller rocks as the hole is filled in until it's shored up and flush with the surface again, she said.
"They hope to be finished today," Flynn said in an email.
No cause has been determined for the sinkhole, located north of Pikeville and first examined by TDOT officials on Wednesday, Flynn said.
"Usually [sinkholes] are caused by water, either from man-made sources (leaking pipes) or natural sources (underground springs, heavy rain)," Flynn said.
She said the sinkhole poses no danger to the highway.
For more details, see tomorrow's Times Free Press.