Large sinkhole opens up in Dallas' Pleasant Grove neighborhood

DALLAS - Dallas Police and Dallas Fire Rescue are blocking an area around a large sinkhole in Pleasant Grove.

The several-feet deep hole opened up at Lake June Road and Prairie Creek Road.

The hole took up most of the center lane.

What Causes Sinkholes?

According to the United States Geological Survey a sinkhole is an area of ground that has no natural external surface drainage. When it rains, the water stays inside the sinkhole and typically drains into the subsurface. 

Sinkholes are common where the rock below the land surface is limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks that can naturally be dissolved by groundwater circulating through them. As the rock dissolves, spaces develop underground. Sinkholes are dramatic because the land usually stays intact for a while until the underground spaces just get too big. If there is not enough support for the land above the spaces, then a sudden collapse of the land surface can occur.

The most damage from sinkholes tends to occur in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.