
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 16, 1995                   TAG: 9503160073
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

VDOT TRIES TO FILL POTENTIAL NEW SINKHOLE IN I-81

Virginia Department of Transportation workers closed one lane of northbound Interstate 81 just north of Dixie Caverns on Wednesday, but it wasn't because of another sinkhole.

It was to prevent one.

VDOT spokesman Jeff Echols said no new hole had developed, but as a precautionary measure workers pumped cement into a cavity below the pavement in the left lane - just a few feet from where a sinkhole opened two weeks ago.

Echols said the left lane would be closed overnight while the cement hardens, but should reopen sometime today.

On Feb. 27, a sinkhole in the right lane closed both northbound lanes of I-81 for two days, forcing thousands of motorists to detour onto U.S. 11 for about five miles. Traffic backups caused delays of more than an hour.

by CNB