How rain has affected repairing the I-270 sinkhole in Maryland | WTOP News

Two lanes and a shoulder are nonetheless closed on southbound Interstate 270 close to Interstate 370 in Montgomery County as crews proceed to restore a sinkhole on one in every of Maryland’s busiest roads.

“We are going to open these lanes as quickly as it’s safely attainable,” Maryland Division of Transportation State Freeway Administration spokesperson Shantee Felix mentioned in an announcement Monday.

Wet climate, such because the earlier days within the D.C. space, is one thing that crews have to contemplate when fixing the problem.

For instance, it’s essential to maintain water out of the huge sinkhole till it’s repaired, Felix mentioned.

“Throughout these rain occasions, the drainage pipe is essential to maintain water out of the huge sinkhole till the restore is made. With clear climate, we will probably be putting in [a] new pipe, storm drain and manhole into the present drainage system. Then we should backfill the world with stone and soil and correctly compact previous to resurfacing,” Felix mentioned.

The 20 toes deep and 30 toes huge sinkhole materialized below the roadway close to Gaithersburg on June 16.

“There’s a variety of injury beneath there,” SHA spokesman Charles Gischlar informed WTOP earlier this month, and rain may very well be a difficulty in attempting to restore it.

“We’re hoping we will get it open by the Fourth of July vacation, if not sooner,” Gischlar mentioned, however “there’s a variety of work that also needs to be carried out.”

WTOP Visitors Reporter Mary DePompa contributed to this report.

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