River Road between Esworthy Drive and Longacres Preserve Court near Potomac reopened Saturday afternoon after a sinkhole formed Thursday and forced an emergency closure.
The sinkhole was caused by a malfunctioning drainage pipe, according to Shantee Felix, a spokeswoman for State Highway Administration, which maintains River Road.
“Our crews had to excavate the road, remove pipe, backfill, resurface and stripe,” she said.
Recent heavy rains in the Washington area have been blamed for several road problems, including a weeklong closure of the George Washington Memorial Parkway’s northbound lines near McLean, Virginia, a route used heavily by commuters, after a sinkhole formed.
Detours were put in place around the work on the two-lane road, which carries about 3,500 cars a day in the area.
Crews had estimated the repairs might last into this week.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media
