Highway Section Failure Foreseen in New Jersey

Value.Space’s analysis warned of further sinkhole development risks on a section of the I-80 highway in New Jersey. Two weeks later it happened.

March 21, 2025

  • On Wednesday, 19 March, the New Jersey Department of Transportation shut down traffic on a section of the busy I-80 highway near Wharton following the appearance of a third major sinkhole, which damaged the road infrastructure.

  • Value.Space’s analysis of this highway section, released on 7 March, two weeks prior to the latest sinkhole development, highlighted risks that now materialised.

The section of the I-80 highway has been suffering from emerging sinkholes since late 2024, believed to be related to collapsing old coal mining shafts, as the highway runs directly above an old mining area. The first major sinkhole appeared on the embankment of the eastbound lanes over Christmas 2024, while the second one emerged about 75 feet to the west, in the middle of the eastbound lanes, in February 2025.

Professional engineer Casey Jones followed the developments on his YouTube channel and requested Value.Space to analyse the I-80 highway section. He published the results of the satellite-based assessment, with a three-year timeline leading up to the first sinkhole development, in a video update on 7 March.

The satellite-based assessment identified linear deformation clusters (shown in blue and yellow) across both lanes of the highway, alternating with stable areas (shown in green). The third sinkhole emerged two weeks after the publication of the analysis, which had clearly identified possible risks to the westbound lanes in addition to previous sinkhole damage to the eastbound lanes.

The satellite-based analysis made the following observations:

  1. There was a clear deformation cluster with a distinct movement pattern at the exact location where the first sinkhole appeared on 26 December 2024.

  2. More broadly, the analysis identified linear deformation clusters extending across both lanes of this I-80 section, where the movement patterns are similar to the narrower area of the first sinkhole. These linear clusters alternate with road sections that are stable.

  3. The second sinkhole on 10 February 2025 developed on a deformation cluster identified to the west of the first sinkhole.

In response to the second sinkhole, the New Jersey Department of Transportation closed the eastbound lanes and redirected traffic onto the westbound lanes. Drilling works were ordered to assess further risks on the eastbound lanes as well as to stabilise the road by inserting grout beneath it where necessary.

On 19 March, however, a third sinkhole — north of the original sinkhole damage area — opened on the median separating the east and westbound lanes. Both lanes of the highway are now closed, and traffic is completely diverted.

Value.Space’s analysis had clearly warned ahead of time that the risks were not limited to the eastbound lanes, as linear deformation clusters exhibiting movement patterns similar to the already materialised sinkhole areas spanned both lanes of the highway section.

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