SHAMOKIN - This weekend, a video camera was lowered into the deep hole left by a mine subsidence along Route 125, but a plan to stabilize the area remains in the works and the highway is expected to remain closed in the area for a few more weeks, according to PennDOT.
Community Relations Coordinator Rick Mason said the camera was used to learn more about the situation under ground.
The hole opened late Wednesday night, prompting PennDOT to close the road.
The subsidence is at least 200 feet deep and approximately 20 feet wide, and is along the edge of Route 125 south of the city, between the "bus barn" and the village of Burnside.
The highway is closed between Bear Valley Road and Upper Road (Route 2044) in Gowen City. Traffic is being detoured via Upper Road to Trevorton, then onto Routes 225 and 61 into Shamokin.
Mason said PennDOT is working with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation to determine the next course of action.
A concrete air shaft is located in the center of the subsidence, which contains water at the bottom.
PennDOT employees have erected signs and piled several huge mounds of dirt across the highway in both directions near the subsidence to prohibit motorists from entering the area.
"Our experts have recommended to us that we keep the road shut down, at least for a few weeks more," Mason said Monday.