Irrigation line may be responsible for M-86 sinkhole

BATAVIA TWP. — Branch County Road commission crews dug a five-foot wide, seven-foot deep trench across the eastbound lane of M-86 Wednesday morning, looking for the cause of a sinkhole that closed the busy state highway Tuesday morning.

Road Commission Manager Jay Miller said the goal was to open the road by Wednesday night.

Miller said a 14-inch steel casing for an underground six-inch water pipe appeared to be the source of the problem.

Miss Dig crews located the pipe along each side of the road and where it crossed the highway.

The farmer cutting the grass alongside the highway spotted the hole Tuesday morning and saw the asphalt flex as trucks rolled over the two-foot deep, four-foot-wide cavity under the road surface.

Michigan Department of Transportation sent an engineer to oversee the work by the road commission.

The earth under the road was wet, but the casing had no visible leak.

Miller said there was no other explanation for the sinkhole.

The pipe under the road was more than 25 years old. Water from the pump, which served the pivot irrigation on the north side of the road, crossed the highway to run another pivot near Wheeler Road.

Owners of the pivot and MDOT tried to determine what permits were needed and what could be done to fix any problems found.

Miller said his crews were ready to fill in the trench and had asphalt at its plant to repave the road when repairs were completed.

MDOT closed M-86 at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. Barricades went up at U.S. 12 and at Batavia Road with detours to U.S. 12. Wednesday morning, one barricade was struck by a driver and destroyed, the road commission said.

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Miller said if the sinkhole had not been found, a vehicle wheel could have gone into the cavity and caused a major crash. “We were very lucky," he said.

Miller said the flexing of the asphalt caused a discoloration around the small hole in the pavement and was not caused by repair.

Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Irrigation line may be responsible for M-86 sinkhole