HINTON, WV (WOAY) – What started as heavy rain back in June is now creating a bigger problem for the City of Hinton.
“The Hinton Sinkhole” on Route 20 has grown immensely over the last several months and is now more massive than ever.
It’s forcing road closure and for the students at Summers County High School to go to remote learning for an entire week, as it’s the only route to and from the school.
“The sinkhole has been growing and basically it’s a collapsed culvert,” Hinton City Manager, Chris Meadows says. “The top of it has collapsed in and the dirt and water keep rushing down and creating a bigger hole each time we get a hard rain storm.”
After a press conference in Hinton Tuesday, plans for repair are now in the works.
For a quicker solution, the Division of Highways plans to place a 125-foot steel bridge over the hole to allow the road to reopen.
The culvert underneath the road is over 100 years old, according to the city manager. A new pipe was placed within the culvert after the DOH heard of the situation back in June.
Hinton City Police sits on top of where the hole now is. Meadows says they are now planning on what to do next with the city police department.
“We vacated the police station in June when this originally happened,” he says. “They have been placed in a temporary location and we just actually bought a new building, we’re going to be moving them in there this winter.”
The bridge is going to be a temporary fix. After that, the plan is to install a new culvert underneath the road and re-fill the hole.
