The West Virginia Division of Highways is working with the city of Hinton to repair a large sinkhole that opened alongside WV 20 just north of Hinton.
In June, a large sinkhole opened along WV 20 near the Hinton Police Department after an old stone and concrete drainage structure started to collapse beneath the roadway. Although the sinkhole is next to, but not in the road, traffic has been restricted to one lane for safety.
“We have coordinated a significant amount of resources to develop a correction plan for the failing culvert and acquire the necessary materials for repairs,” said District 9 Engineer Jim Moore, P.E. “This has been a truly cooperative effort between the WVDOH, the City of Hinton, and several vendors to determine how to proceed step by step.”
The WVDOH met with city officials on July 11, 2022, to discuss how to best repair the sinkhole, and local water and gas companies temporarily relocated their lines to effect repairs.
WVDOH plans to stabilize the roadway fill by carefully sliding approximately 120 linear feet of round "slip liner" culvert inside the existing box culvert. The slip liner will extend from the existing inlet to the failure area.
The area between the old and new culverts will then be filled with a flowable fill material to stabilize the structures and roadway fill. This will allow traffic to continue safe use of the existing roadway between the City of Hinton and the Summers County school complex.
Work begins Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. Once the sinkhole is filled, the WVDOH will start plans for a permanent repair.
