Workers at Austin Peay had begun repairing what was believed to be a five foot by three foot hole no more than five feet in depth in the end zone of Governors Stadium. Turns out, they got much more than they bargained for. The simple hole actually ended up being a sinkhole stretching 40 feet wide and running 40 feet deep.
“We actually put a line item in the budget for sinkhole remediation,” Mike Jenkins, superintendent for Nashville-based Bell & Associates Construction, told the Leaf Chronicle. “You never know to what extent you’re going to run into them, but we know that Montgomery County, and Austin Peay State University specifically, is famous for sinkholes.”
In addition to repairing the sinkhole, crews will rip up the existing track and turf and lay a new surface down next month. A separate project improving the west stands is also underway. Both projects should be complete in time for the Governors' home opener versus Chattanooga on Sept. 13.
(Photos via SB Nation)