A sinkhole that forced the closure of a portion of Dallas’ White Rock Trail this week has stabilized, but city crews will monitor the ground for shifting.
The portion of the trail along Garland Road near East Lawther Drive was reopened to the public Thursday, the city of Dallas said in a statement Friday. City crews discovered the sinkhole, which is 14 feet deep, last Friday. The sinkhole is roughly 4 by 6 feet at the surface, expanding to 4 by 8 feet below ground.
It appears to have been caused by a deteriorated and abandoned 36-inch wastewater pipe, the city said, which can cause erosion.
Dallas is spending millions of dollars to address erosion along the trail after a 2024 report found 1,100 feet of shoreline along Garland Road is eroding and will fail without intervention.
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This week, Dallas Water Utilities staff backfilled the sinkhole and restored the surface with compacted soil. The city said crews will “continue to monitor the area for any shifting, depressions, or other ground movement signs in the area.”
In the future, the city said it might need to close part of the trail to complete additional work and fill the abandoned pipeline with grout.
As a precaution, the Dallas Running Club is looking into rerouting its April race, the Tal Morrison Half Marathon, due to the sinkhole, said Michael Baker, the club’s president-elect.
Sinkholes are not uncommon in Texas. In 2023, a massive sinkhole in the town of Daisetta, near Houston, began growing after being dormant for 15 years. The hole first appeared in 2008, swallowing oil tanks, trees, telephone poles and several cars. It reached 900 feet wide and 260 feet deep before stabilizing, according to estimates at the time.
The holes occur when the ground below the surface can no longer support the land, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Typically, they form so slowly that little change is noticeable, but they can appear suddenly when a collapse occurs.