Nothing ruins a road trip like falling down an abandoned mineshaft. Yet another sinkhole has opened up on the New Jersey Interstate furthering concerns for the integrity of the essential highway.
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The Garden State was once a real hotspot for iron. This has resulted in the whole of New Jersey being mined to exhaustion. But, when these mines were being built, the city and most of the roads were not in place. There were also little to no regulations.
Around New Jersey are thousands of abandoned mine shafts, leaving the ground incredibly vulnerable. This is what caused the first sinkhole to open up under the highway. The initial one was a monster, with a gaping 40-foot maw.
The second, thankfully, wasn't that bad, but officials closed the road nonetheless. The depression in the road was reported, and before the pits of hell could open up and swallow commuters, the road was closed.
Sinkhole Road Closure Causes Large Highway Delays
The New Jersey Interstate was closed for hours. A department statesperson said, "Out of an abundance of caution, the highway was closed and detoured at Exit 34 in Wharton which goes to Route 15." This caused long delays throughout the city and surrounding areas.
However, you can't be too careful with a possible sinkhole on a highway. If it were to fully collapse, the results could be fatal. Who knows how deep it could be, or what demonic horrors lie in wait at the bottom?
Thankfully, this time, the sinkhole on the New Jersey highway was found before it opened up. At present the road is staying closed. It hasn't been confirmed that the depression is caused by an abandoned mineshaft.
Construction workers are currently reinforcing the road in an attempt to make it usable again. It is expected that the sinkhole on the highway will take a few days to make secure again. They intend to make it extra strong so that whatever it is buried under there can't break out.
The one thing the US really doesn't need is what those mineshafts were abandoned for getting loose and wreaking havoc on the city of New Jersey.
