Sinkhole Repairs On SR 51 Almost Complete

Work to repair a Hart County highway is on pace to wrap up this week.

The Georgia Department of Transportation said that it expects to finish repairs on the State Route 51 sinkhole this Friday, if the weather continues to cooperate.

Repairs were delayed in recent weeks because of rain.

However, Georgia DOT District Engineer Brent Cook said that work went well last week.

Cook said the road is back up to grade and paving is complete.

This week, Cook said crews will build back the shoulders of the roadway and install the roadway’s safety features; guardrail, lane striping and signs.

Crews have been working to repair this sinkhole since May.

The sinkhole opened up on State Route 51 on the morning of May 6, about six miles north of Hartwell.

The earth supporting the roadway, which is surrounded on both sides by Lake Hartwell, was undermined from a pipe failure approximately 38 feet under the road.

That pipe failure was about 180 feet long and 13 feet in diameter.

Once the asphalt was removed, Georgia DOT engineers found a cavity 10 feet square at the top and 20 feet deep taking up almost the entire northbound lane.
Since the sinkhole opened up, a detour has been in place while repairs have taken place.

Repairs were bid out at a cost of over $1 million to E.R. Snell Contracting of Snellville.