Caltrans Also Closing Southbound Lanes Of Interstate 5 Due To Sinkhole
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY (CBS13) — Caltrans is expanding the closure of Interstate 5 to include the southbound lanes after a sinkhole was discovered earlier this week.
Caltrans says the southbound lanes will also be closed through Friday at 5 p.m. at the earliest.
Previously, only the northbound lanes were closed after a sinkhole was found on Interstate 5 just south of Tracy on Tuesday morning. As Tuesday went on, crews discovered the hole was larger than they thought and had to close the northbound lanes, originally just through Thursday.
Caltrans crews and construction crews are repairing a sinkhole that formed along northbound Interstate 5 just south of Tracy.
The sinkhole opened up Tuesday morning – Caltrans announced Wednesday that an abandoned 40-year old pipe underground is what led to the sinkhole.
Greg Lawson, a spokesman for Caltrans says "we're not really sure what exactly led to the sinkhole, it could have been a compaction or could possibly be a leak."
Lawson says Caltrans maintenance crews first saw the sinkhole on the shoulder of northbound I-5 Tuesday morning.
The sinkhole was initially a foot in diameter and almost 15 feet deep.
"Here in California, it's mostly due to erosion," said David Gius, a geotechnical engineer in West Sacramento.
But he also says the drought also plays a big role in causing sinkholes.
"We've had several years of drying conditions and all of a sudden we hit a wet year. That water is gonna go into those cracks and it can rapidly find things like the buried pipelines and then backfill around the pipe," Gius added.
Gius says there is a large amount of clay in the soil in the San Joaquin Valley.
The cracks are a result of the clay in the soil that has dried out from years of dry conditions.
He says the only way to stop a sinkhole from forming is by placing thick pavement on the road, or by using concrete reinforcement underground.
He says both options are very expensive, and not worth the hassle because sinkholes rarely occur.
Caltrans expects to have the five-mile stretch of northbound I-5 between Highway 132 and State Route 33 fixed by Friday afternoon.
A detour has been set up for drivers who can use Highway 132 to get to State Route 33, before getting back on I-5.
