LAKELAND, Fla. — A 55-foot-wide sinkhole opened up Friday afternoon near Scott Lake in Lakeland, as seen on Sky 10 video.
The new sinkhole is not far from another 75-foot-wide sinkhole that opened up back in June. The newest sinkhole, or depression as the county officials are also calling it, appears to be stable.
Authorities told 10 Tampa Bay that a private engineer has been brought in by the landowner to take a look at the 12-foot-deep hole.
Part of Scott Lake Road between Case Lane and Fitzgerald Road was blocked off, but county officials say they have reopened.
When the previous sinkhole opened up, authorities also had to block off Scott Lake Road at Fitzgerald Road as workers tried to stop the expansion with sand.
Sinkholes are common in Florida. They can "theoretically form anywhere" because the state is largely underlain by limestone bedrock, according to the Department of Environmental Protection. Slightly acidic groundwater slowly dissolves cavities and caves in the limestone and, over time, the cavity cannot support the Earth above it.
The Lakeland Ledger in 2018 reported that Scott Lake, like many Florida lakes, was created by a sinkhole that later filled with water. A 2006 sinkhole event caused the lake to lose much of its water when a sinkhole opened up on its southern shore.