Worse and worse: NJ officials have no idea when collapsing interstate will reopen

🚧 Both sides of Route 80 are closed near Exit 34 in Morris County

🚧 There is no timetable to reopen either direction of Route 80

🚧 NJ DOT has created a new website with updates on the project

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WHARTON — Crews are working around the clock to repair the collapsing portions of Interstate 80 and eventually reopen both directions of the important Morris County highway, which has faced closures and detours since the first sinkhole caved in December.

The sinkholes have been blamed on abandoned historic mines scattered deep under the roadway.

The NJ DOT said that the area around the latest sinkhole along the westbound lanes near Exit 34, which measures 15 by 15 feet wide and 20 to 25 feet deep, has been stabliized. Testing continues to determine the integrity of the roadway and the next steps to open the highway "as safely and quickly as possible."

“As we assess the impacts of this new sinkhole on I-80, we will continue to work around the clock so that New Jersey commuters and families get their lives back on track,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement. "We understand the significant disruption that this has caused and remind everyone that the safety of New Jerseyans continues to be our top priority.”

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DOT resources focused on Route 80

NJ DOT spokesman Steve Schapiro said that road work and utility work on portions of Routes 80, 10, 15 and 46 have been suspended to avoid impacting traffic on the detour routes. Morris County has a similar restriction in place.

The plan to build a crossover lane to take eastbound traffic onto the westbound lanes is on hold pending testing and assessment of the westbound lanes, according to Schapiro.

The DOT has also created a special website dedicated to the Route 80

Assemblywoman Aura K. Dunn, R-Morris, is co-sponsoring legislation that would create a sales tax exemption for small businesses impacted by the detours.

State Sen. Anthony Bucco suggested to Gov. Phil Murphy that Park-and-Ride availability be increased along with NJ Transit bus service. The Republican leader told New Jersey 101.5 that Murphy was “very receptive” to his suggestions.

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Garbage in the mine shafts

William Kroth, president and CEO of the Sterling Hill Mining Museum, told Eric Scott on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show that there are no reliable maps to show where all the abandoned mines are located. It's a slow process to locate them and Krouse thinks the NJDOT will have to bring in more contractors.

"You bring in a boring machine, which uses about a 2-inch diameter rod, and they basically hammer that rod down. By hammering and counting the number of strokes it takes they can get the soil density, they could get the soil strength. It also has a sampler on it so they could take out samples and actually kind of do a biopsy of the whole area," Krouse said.

Krouse says that the wood used to support the mine shafts can last forever if they were totally dry and when they are totally submerged, as in the Italian city of Venice. The supports in the New Jersey mines are semi-submerged and go through cycles that makes them rot. Towns also used to dump garbage in the mines.

"If you have a void full of garbage, how are you going to get the grout in there? The garbage is taking up that void. So it's just not the air you're displacing. You're trying to work against that body of garbage in there. It is a dilemma," Krouse said.

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