Huge hole closes highway lane

MANISTIQUE — The Michigan Department of Transportation has established a detour after a large hole — about four feet deep and six feet in diameter — opened on U.S. 2 in Manistique earlier this week.

MDOT Communications Representative for the Superior Region Dan Weingarten said MDOT was notified of a depression in the highway’s pavement at about 9:30 p.m. Monday. The department shifted traffic so it would avoid this section of pavement.

“Shortly before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, we were notified that the pavement had collapsed and this hole had opened up,” Weingarten said.

The hole, located on the eastbound lane of U.S. 2 just west of the bridge in Manistique, was about three to four feet deep and about six feet in diameter.

“It has now been filled in temporarily until the sewer repairs can be completed,” Weingarten said.

The collapse was caused by fill material under the highway eroding and being carried away in the broken main sewer transmission line for the northwest side of Manistique, which has been in place since the late ’20s or early ’30s. This loss of fill material left a void under the highway.