Ohio sinkhole size of four football fields swallows freeway

A giant sinkhole the size of four football fields has swallowed part of Ohio's State Route 516 in Dover. The road will be closed for months, WKYC reported. "It's very unusual that something like this would happen," Ohio Department of Transportation District 11 Director Lloyd McAdam told WKYC.

The land belongs to the Newton Asphalt Company, which had been dredging for sand 50-feet below the ground before the sinkhole developed, UPI reported. The company may have caused the sinkhole, but the more immediate cause appears to be the collapse of a nearby pond. 

More from GlobalPost: When the BRICs Crumble 

"It appears to me that dredging took away the bottom of the slope," McAdam told WKYC, "and that probably eroded away and started cascading down, and just started filling the hole and filling the hole."

Will you support The World with a monthly donation?

Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you. We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

Make a gift today, and you’ll help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000!