East Tennessee sinkholes through the years

Travis Farmer, with Hallsdale-Powell Utility District, gets a better view of a large sinkhole on Greenwell Road in Powell, Tennessee on Tuesday, February 26, 2019. The sinkhole is estimated to be around 20 feet deep.

Members of Knoxville Volunteer Emergency Rescue Squad work to rescue a horse named Peanut who fell into a sinkhole in East Knox County, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. Peanut did not survive.

A sinkhole is seen on the side of Alcoa Highway near McGhee Tyson Airport, Tuesday Feb. 11, 2020.

David H. Lewis and family stare at a sinkhole July 22, 1977.

A large sink hole closes both lanes of east bound Pellissippi Parkway Monday night. Traffic is being diverted to the shoulder. Monday, May 7, 2007

Mr. and Mrs. John W. Fate stare at a sinkhole in their front yard at 900 Wilder Place, Dec. 13, 1961.

A sinkhole opens up along World's Fair Drive near the Museum of Art in Knoxville, Tennessee on Saturday, August 10, 2019. The sinkhole had already bent railings and sidewalks nearby and had the potential to open up wider, according to police at the scene.

Damage caused by a broken water main early Tuesday morning is being repaired, Aug. 30, 1989. The hole had traffic at a standstill near the Alcoa Highway overpass on Cumberland Ave.

A sinkhole opens up along World's Fair Drive near the Museum of Art in Knoxville, Tennessee on Saturday, August 10, 2019. The sinkhole had already bent railings and sidewalks nearby and had the potential to open up wider, according to police at the scene.

East Kingsgate Rd. is closed in Farragut on Tuesday, March 19, 2019, after sinkhole formed over the weekend.

Steve Arnsdorf walks past damage caused by a broken storm sewer line Wednesday at Papermill Plaza shopping center. The hole appeared Tuesday after heavy rains and was apparently caused by the failure of a 84-inch diameter pipe. "Our focus now is to assess a temporary solution," said Arnsdorf who represents the owners of Papermill Plaza. 2004

A large sinkhole in Farragut has closed East Kingsgate Rd. on Monday, March 18, 2019.

Knox County Public Works repairs a massive sinkhole on Greenwell Road in North Knox County.

A large sinkhole on Greenwell Road in Powell, Tennessee on Tuesday, February 26, 2019. The sinkhole is estimated to be around 20 feet deep.

A sinkhole has closed a section of Wesley Rd. between Kingston Pike and Dorchester Drive in the West Hills neighborhood Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. The 20 foot sinkhole opened up overnight and is expected to remained closed for up to eight weeks.

Crews repair a sinkhole Wednesday on Alcoa Highway. The sinkhole has closed all northbound lanes and two of three southbound lanes, according to Tennessee Department of Transportation officials. The sinkhole is just south of the J.E. 'Buck' Karnes bridge. (PAUL EFIRD/NEWS SENTINEL)

TDOT workers pour concrete into a 15-foot deep sinkhole closing all northbound lanes of Alcoa Highway near Pellissippi Parkway Monday, Jan. 23, 2017.

Tennessee Department of Transportation crews worked Wednesday afternoon to temporarily patch a sinkhole on the inside lane of I-40/75 eastbound until Thursday morning when the hole can be repaired. DOT crews put down about 3 tons of asphalt for the temporary fix. Thursday the inside lanes east and westbound will be be closed to allow crews to dig up the roadway and discover the cause of the sinkhole and then repair it. 3/3/2004

A sinkhole is seen on the side of Alcoa Highway near McGhee Tyson Airport, Tuesday Feb. 11, 2020.

A sinkhole is seen on the side of Alcoa Highway near McGhee Tyson Airport, Tuesday Feb. 11, 2020.

Doug Bataille, senior director of Knox County Parks and Recreation, reviews the sediment erosion controls surrounding one of the sites two sinkholes at the Northwest Sports Complex project in Karns. 04/13/05

Tennessee Department of Transportation employees wait for the ashpalt to cool so they can open the north bound lanes of I 75 Wednesday morning. Tennessee Department of Transportation employees worked through the night to repair a sink hole in the northbound lanes of Interstate 75 through a section of Loudon County. Traffic began flowing again about 8:30 a.m. after the Tennessee Department of Transportation completed overnight repairs on the sinkhole, north of mile marker 68 near Philadelphia. The giant sinkhole spanned both northbound lanes and was repaired with a multiple layers of stone and concrete and sealed over with fresh asphalt.

A tracked Hoe extends its bucket to scoop dirt from the sink hole in the South Bound lanes of Pellissippi Parkway Tuesday morning. A massive sinkhole in the middle of the southbound lanes of Pellissippi Parkway near Solway is expected to leave thousands of motorists either looking for alternative routes or crawling along the road's shoulder Tuesday morning. The sinkhole opened up about a quarter-mile south of the Oak Ridge Highway intersection with Pellissippi at approximately 6:30 p.m. Monday and quickly brought traffic to a crawl, authorities said. Tuesday May 8, 2007

One lane of southbound U.S. 321 remains closed Monday in Loudon County just inside the Blount County line because of a sinkhole that was first reported about 11p.m. Friday, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportion. 5/14/2007

TDOT workers assess damage done by a sinkhole on eastbound Interstate 24 near Grundy County Tuesday May 18, 2010 near Chattanooga, Tenn. Spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn says the sinkhole is about 25 feet deep, 40 feet long and 18 feet wide.

Workers on Tuesday complete filling in a sinkhole that developed on the soccer field at Oak Ridge High School. Home soccer games are being relocated to Blankenship Field to give new sod time to grow, a school official said. 2013

A sinkhole filled with concrete is seen Monday, Mar. 14, 2011 at Cedar Bluff Elementary School.

Department of Transportation crews today, Sept. 2, 2010, are using heavy equipment to determine the extent of a sinkhole on the shoulder of Interstate 40 East just east of the Lawnville Road exit in Roane County, spokeswoman Yvette Martinez said. The sinkhole was discovered Thursday morning during mowing operations and is about 1 foot in diameter on the surface and at least 4 feet deep, Martinez said. There is further weakness extending into the I-40 median, she said. The left lane of the eastbound lanes remains closed near the scene, Martinez said.

Tennessee Department of Transportation worker Dennis Brewer places flashing lights atop barrels warning drivers of a sinkhole that formed Thursday on Lovell Road near Interstate 40. Workers filled the sinkhole with a type of concrete. 2013

Utility workers work to reconnect a water pipe in the frontyard of a home in the affluent Gettysvue subdivision of Knoxville on Friday, Sept. 6, 2013, after a sinkhole opened beneath its driveway the previous evening.

A giant sinkhole is the cause of the closing of a section of Topside Road in South Knox County, July, 23, 1996.

Leslie Underhill monitors the daily appearance of new cracks in her pool due to what she believes are underground sinkholes giving way, July 16, 1996. Underhill lives on Mona Lane in Oak Ridge.

A backhoe deals with a large sinkhole on Everett Road in West Knoxville, June, 25, 1998.

A sinkhole has opened up on the University of Tennessee - Knoxville campus..