HOLLOW ROCK, Tenn. — The sinkhole near First Bank on Broad Street is getting bigger, and patience among town leaders is wearing thin.
The hole has been growing beneath the sidewalk and shoulder of U.S. Highway 70 near First Bank’s entrance for over a year, and has been topic of conversation at several of Hollow Rock’s board meetings.
Cracks have now spread to the edge of the westbound travel lane, and other problem areas are beginning to appear elsewhere along the highway.
Hollow Rock’s town attorney, Butch Maddox, told the board he is done waiting.
“Somebody’s going to get hurt, and it’s not going to be our liability,” he said. “It’s going to be [TDOT’s] liability.”
Maddox said his next step is what he called a “nuclear letter” formally putting the state on record that the hazard exists, that the town has repeatedly tried to get it addressed, and that responsibility for any injury rests with TDOT, not Hollow Rock.
The Carroll County Observer contacted TDOT in July regarding the situation.
Their representative explained that TDOT has documentation showing where the department had given the sidewalk areas to the Town of Hollow Rock. They said that ultimately the town is responsible for the area.
Maddox said he was told the same thing, but TDOT has not provided him with any proof.
Town Recorder RaSha Higdon said she hasn’t found any record of the town’s Board of Aldermen voting to accept property from TDOT.
For Maddox, the question of who is responsible is not up for debate.
“I have their plans for when they originally built the highway,” Maddox said. “It shows the right-of-way they acquired, and it’s got the sidewalks. [The state] poured the sidewalks.”
The plans, which are estimated to be from around 1950, show the sidewalk labeled as “Future Sidewalk” within the state’s proposed right-of-way boundary.
What’s The Cause?
Town officials say the cause of the collapse is an underground spring running along the highway corridor.
Higdon said that the water has been tested and found to contain none of the chemical markers associated with city water lines.
Alderman Andy Baker, who also serves as public works director for the Town of Bruceton, said the same problem is occurring near Central High School.
“That’s an underground spring under there, just washing all that dirt out,” Baker said at the August meeting. “They can fill it in with riprap and build it back up, but the spring won’t stop washing it out. They’ve got to come up with a real solution.”
Baker added that underground utilities buried along the highway makes permanently repairing the problem much more difficult, and pondered whether that is why the state may be dragging their feet.
Awaiting a Response
US Highway 70 is a state-maintained highway under TDOT’s jurisdiction. If the damage indeed falls within the state’s right-of-way, the town has no authority to make repairs.
Hollow Rock is dependent on a response from TDOT, and has been trying to get that response for more than a year.
Mayor Ronnie Webb told the board the state had previously sent someone to inspect the area, and that the inspection confirmed the damage had worsened, but no repair plan followed.
“They’re just buying time,” Webb said. “They’re trying to push it off and keep putting it off.”
Maddox said he has received calls from First Bank about the situation, as the sinkhole affects how their customers access the Hollow Rock branch.
Elected representatives in Nashville have also been unresponsive, according to Hollow Rock officials.
For now, orange cones will continue to line the sidewalks along Broad Street until something can get done.
Carroll County Observer will continue to follow this story.