Second road sinks in Chatham

For the second day in a row, the pavement gave way on a road in Chatham County.

Chatham officials said Tuesday that Jones Ferry Road in the northern part of the county was closed as pavement began to disappear into a sinkhole.

Jones Ferry Road was blocked off just north of River Road because of a “sinkhole that is starting to crack the pavement,” officials said in an announcement. The road crosses Crows Creek in that area, but it was not immediately known if that was where the pavement gave way.

State Department of Transportation engineers were on the way to assess the damage, the announcement said.

Earlier Tuesday, the transportation department said that repairing a sinkhole that developed Monday on Lystra Road in the northeastern part of the county “could be an extensive project.”

The eastern end of the road was closed off Monday after the hole developed where the road crosses an arm of Jordan Lake.

The state Department of Transportation said two 6-foot culverts that carry water under Lystra Road had been damaged, and the road above them lost its support.

It was not clear Tuesday exactly what damage had happened, and crews were on the scene assessing that and what it would take to fix the problem and reopen the road, DOT spokeswoman Ginny Inman said.

“Early reports show this could be an extensive project,” NCDOT said in a statement announcing detours around the problem.

Drivers who would normally use Lystra between Jack Bennett Road and Farrington Point Road were being directed to use Jack Bennett, Big Woods Road, U.S. 64 and Farrington Road to get around the closure.

The closed portion of Lystra Road is open at each end for local traffic, the statement said.

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Second road sinks in Chatham."