CULLMAN, Ala. – On the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 26, a large sinkhole was discovered along the shoulder of County Road 222. The roadway was closed for a short period of time while County road crews worked to figure out the cause of the hole and to ensure the stability of the road. The sinkhole is located just before Exit 305 northbound to Huntsville.
It’s unclear what caused the sinkhole; currently, the suspect is a collapsed 36-foot pipe that runs under the road. Cullman County Commission Chairman Jeff Clemons said the entire commission hopes that is not the case, as replacing the damaged pipe would be costly, calling for a potential closure of the exit and road entirely.
“If it is the pipe that’s collapsed, that would be a huge undertaking between us and the City to fix that. We would have to close the road and it would take a while,” he said. “For now, the road is open and the sinkhole has been filled. We’ll continue to keep a close check on it over the next few days and see how everything settles. It looks like right now the road is in good shape.”
The sinkhole began on the shoulder of the road and began tunneling under the roadway. Cullman County Engineer Phillip Widner was on-site to oversee the fill project. Cullman County road crews were able to fill the sinkhole with gravel and fill dirt.
