WILMINGTON- What first appeared as a crack in the surface of the eastbound lane of Route 9 near Haystack Road became a major road repair project last week, threatening to sever Wilmington’s link with all points west of Chimney Hill.

On Wednesday, about 100 feet of the road collapsed when the riverbank gave way, sending trees and road into the Deerfield River. The only thing that remains of the right half of the eastbound lane is the guardrail, suspended over the gaping void that was once the riverbank. About 15 feet below, a 10’ section of road lies in the sand at the river’s edge. A tangled mass of limbs and foliage from trees that once lined the riverbank are now lying in the middle of the Deerfield River.

“I guess our request and the AOT’s desire to close off the lane was a good thing,” said Wilmington Town Manager Bob Rusten.

Two weeks ago, Vermont Agency of Transportation officials closed a 500-foot section of Route 9 near the highway’s intersection with Haystack Road at the request of Wilmington officials, after a portion of the eastbound lane began to collapse. The collapse was in the same location where the road had been patched earlier this spring after it cracked and sank, leaving a noticeable dip in the road. Rusten said Wilmington officials were concerned about the possibility of the road giving way while it was in use.

On Wednesday, investigators with the AOT’s materials and research division began drilling a series of test holes to determine what was causing the ground to shift under the road. But when the crew began drilling, the ground became unstable and the riverbank began to collapse. “The driller called and told his boss the shoulder was falling away right in front of them,” says VAOT District One Manager Nelson Blanchard. “He told them to get out of there, and within 30 seconds the major part of it slid away.”

Blanchard says the cause of the slide is water-related. “There’s a lot of water coming down from the north side of the road, the Haystack side,” he says. “The ground got saturated and couldn’t take anymore water.”

The AOT says there have been minor problems with erosion at the location for several years, but that this year’s nearly daily rains have exacerbated the problem. In July alone, Blanchard notes, Wilmington received almost 10 inches of rain. Almost nine inches of rain was recorded in June. “The water table is extremely high in that area,” Blanchard says. “One of the test holes on the north side of the road indicated the water table was only eight inches down.”

On Tuesday, Rusten and other local officials met with Blanchard and representatives from TransCanada. Rusten says Wilmington reiterated their concern about keeping the road open, not only for through traffic, but for emergency vehicles and tourist traffic. “We need to be able to get people into town, and that’s a major route,” Rusten said. “But it’s not only that, we also provide emergency services to Searsburg and Somerset.”

Blanchard assured them that the AOT intends to maintain at least one lane of travel on the town’s only westward link, even in the event of a more substantial collapse. “Further collapse is possible if we continue to get these downpours,” Blanchard says. “We’ll keep crowding to the north as much as we can.”

In the event of a large collapse that takes out more of the road, Blanchard says the AOT may have to put in a temporary detour over neighboring properties as a last resort. “We’re watching it daily and praying hard that the rain is over.”

If the rain continues, however, there may be even more problems on the horizon. Blanchard says his department is keeping an eye on another developing problem along the riverbank just a few hundred feet east of the collapse. And farther east from that, another minor riverbank collapse has been reported.

Blanchard says TransCanada is cooperating with their effort by releasing as much water from Harriman Reservoir as possible. “We need to get a better look and see what we can do to fix the problem,” he says. “But (TransCanada) can only release so much water at a time.”

Rusten says the road may be repaired by winter, depending on how the process unfolds. “If the AOT doesn’t have to go through the normal bidding process, we may be looking at the end of October as the earliest date it could be done,” he says. “But if it has to go out to bid, it will take longer. We’re all hoping to have it done and paved before winter.”