Highway to Nevada tourist town reopens after sinkhole filled

Sunday, Jan. 8, 2006 | 12:30 p.m.

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. - The highway leading to the historic mining town of Virginia City is open again after crews covered a sinkhole caused by heavy rain and snow over the New Year's Day weekend.

Nevada Highway 342 reopened just north of Silver City on Friday night, nearly a week after it was shut down.

Nevada Department of Transportation officials said the highway was built over an old mine, and the sinkhole - measuring 30 feet in diameter and almost as deep - opened up over the mine shaft.

Crews built an underground bridge to support the roadway, and then covered the sinkhole with rock and fill. A temporary asphalt roadbed was installed.

"We're confident it will support the roadway, that we won't have any more failures in that area," NDOT engineer Peter Booth told the Nevada Appeal.

"We believe that mine caving in was a result of some timbers placed on top of the mine opening and we believe those timbers rotted out," Booth added.

MKD Construction Inc. of Carson City was awarded a $30,000 for the project.

Highway 342, the major access road to Virginia City from the south, branches off U.S. 50 just east of Carson City.

The Highway 341 truck route was used as a detour until it reopened.

Virginia City, a National Historic Landmark, features buildings dating back to the heyday of the Comstock Lode mining boom of the 1800s.

New Year's Day weekend flooding and mudslides caused millions of dollars in damage to roads in the Reno-Tahoe area.