Sinkhole appears in Fort Campbell, Kentucky

A sinkhole forced soldiers at Fort Campbell to take evasive maneuvers to get around post.

The 20-by-20 hole opened up on Monday on the corner of Wickham Avenue and 101st Road Cole Park Commons.

Geologist Kallina Dunkle with Austin Peay State University believes the snow and ice followed by rain caused the sinkhole.

"Times when we tend to get more rain and especially this year with getting the snow melt on top of the rain, it's going to be more likely," Dunkle said.

Dunkle said sinkholes are fairly common in Tennessee, particularly in Clarksville where there is a lot of limestone. Dozens of sinkholes have opened up on Austin Peay's campus over the past decade.

"We can imagine where typically a series of caves or systems that might be connected, and so when all that soil starts to get washed out into the underlying system, you end up with a depression at the top," Dunkle said.

Last spring, construction crews discovered a relatively small sinkhole near Austin Peay's football field. The sinkhole expanded and was nearly 60 feet deep.

Bill Persinger with Austin Peay said at no time was anyone or any building in danger.

Since sinkholes are so common on campus, support systems have been put in place under each structure to ensure its stability.

"Our Sundquist Science Building is actually our largest building on campus," Persinger said. "It had issued there. And usually it boils down to structuring the building right, getting the right size, putting concrete in certain areas to make sure the building will stay there."

Engineers at Fort Campbell are looking at assessing the sinkhole there this week to see how deep it is. They said it could take anywhere from two weeks to several months to fill.