GDOT Comes Up With Preliminary Plan for Sinkhole Repair

The Georgia DOT is taking construction bids to repair the sinkhole on SR51/Reed Creek Highway in Hart County.

G-DOT spokesperson Teri Pope said Monday an overview of a repair plan has been developed, but  the problem is the enormity of the repairs involved.

“It’s a very complicated repair because of the length and size of the pipe that runs under the roadway,” Pope said. “The pipe is 10ft tall, 150ft long and is buried 35-40 ft under the roadway.  So, just to get to that pipe and repair that pipe and roadway is a huge project.”

In addition, Pope said part of the 10 ft culvert pipe is in the water.  That means crews will have to build a temporary dam on either side of the pipe so they have a dry place in which to work.

“The pipe is four feet under the water on either end in the lake,” Pope explained. “So they  have to build a dry spot to work, plus you have all that pressure from the lake water against that temporary structure. The City of Atlanta has sink holes all the time that are five feet deep or eight feet deep and there’s a broken pipe they have to fix. This project is much, much bigger and far more complicated than that.  So, it is a big, big deal.”

The project, Pope said, is so big, it is outside the scope of what G-DOT can do.

“The pipe needs to be removed, replaced by a new, custom made pipe. Then the substructure for the state route can be rebuilt,” said GDOT District Engineer for Northeast Georgia Bayne Smith. “If that weren’t complicated enough, each end of this huge pipe is under about 4 feet of Lake Hartwell water. This is a massive undertaking, requiring very specialized skills, equipment and materials.”

Smith said his office has already met with four contractors to discuss the work, but so far  there is still no time frame for repairs or an estimated cost yet.

Meantime, that stretch of SR51/Reed Creek Highway will remain closed to all traffic.

“Motorists safety is our primary goal so the roadway will remain closed to traffic until it is completely repaired,” Smith said.

A detour is in place and motorists should follow the detour signs to get around the area and back onto SR51/Reed Creek Highway.