Staff Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the City of Murray worked with the City of Murray Public Works Department to excavate the site of a sinkhole along a frontage road near U.S. 641 across from Roy Stewart Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 4.

Over the weekend, someone reported what appeared to a hole the size of a volleyball in the pavement at an entrance to a frontage road off U.S. 641 near
Cracker Barrel.

Murray Police responded to the site and determined there was a void beneath the pavement. The entrance was closed by the Public Works Department for further investigation.

KYTC engineers conducted a detailed investigation on Tuesday, Sept. 3, and found it was not a sinkhole. Plans from the 1980s indicated there was a large drainage pipe beneath the asphalt.

Engineers learned upon further investigation that there are three large drainage tiles that connect under the roadway at the site, which likely date back to
the 1970s.

Engineers believe a small leak at the interesting point eroded soil beneath the pavement over many years, creating a hole that was 22 feet deep and about 40 feet in diameter.

The materials have been ordered to repair the leak.

A crew will be on site early Thursday, Sept. 5 to complete the repair and start back-filling the excavated area.

A paving crew is expected to start work by Friday, Sept. 6.

Keith Todd, public information officer for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, said he expects to reopen the entrance to the frontage road by the end of the day on Sept. 6.

Motorists traveling U.S. 641 northbound should be alert for trucks entering and leaving the roadway at U.S. 641 mile point 8.5 just north of Chestnut Street in Murray.