Hole goes clear through Cantrell Road viaduct

A car drives past a hole on the Cantrell Road viaduct in Little Rock Friday morning.
A car drives past a hole on the Cantrell Road viaduct in Little Rock Friday morning.

Motorists driving west on the Cantrell Road viaduct near Little Rock's Riverdale neighborhood may have felt quite a jolt Friday after a sizable hole developed in one lane of the elevated roadway.

The hole, which appeared to be a couple feet in diameter and went clear through, was reported about 8:30 a.m. in the right-hand lane of the viaduct, which runs over railroad tracks and the Arkansas River Trail just west of Episcopal Collegiate School. There were no preliminary reports of damage to any vehicles, though police reportedly responded after getting multiple calls from motorists.

By 9 a.m., a Little Rock Police Department patrol car had parked in front of the hole, preventing vehicles from driving on it.

Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Highway and Transportation, said the lane is expected to remain closed until about 3 p.m. while a crew pours new concrete to patch the hole.

"This particular bridge is a very old one," he said. "It's just an old bridge that has seen better days."

Straessle said such holes do happen on occasion and aren't a sign that the structural integrity of the span is flawed.

"Just think of it as a big pot hole," he said. "You're not used to being able to see through the bridge deck. It makes it a little more scary than it is."

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An iPhone is pictured on the ground next to a hole in the Cantrell Road viaduct to offer perspective on its size.

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