Reported By Scott Harris

MAITLAND -- In Orange County, a sinkhole the size of a football field has crews trying to stabilize it, but the sinkhole is not exactly brand new.

The sinkhole at the Maitland Boulevard Interchange was present when they first built Interstate 4 in the early 60s, and it hasn't done much of anything in over 40 years, but it is big -- over 300 feet across, about the same size as the famous Winter Park sinkhole that opened in early May 1981. That  sinkhole swallowed a house, some cars, a city swimming pool, part of Denning Avenue and garnered worldwide attention.

"I was here that Friday night when the Winter Park sinkhole opened. When I first saw it, it was only about 30 to 40 feet across, and maybe 40 to 50 feet deep. It opened quite large, but eventually, of course, it stabilized, and like most sinkholes, it's now just another Central Florida lake," News 13's Scott Harris said.

The one along along I-4 is more like a retention pond, but with plans to expand the interstate, the Department of Transportation decided to take no chances.

DOT figures the sinkhole has filled in over the years, but with soft sand, so they are drilling down and injecting columns cement grout throughout the entire area, and eventually piling almost 30 feet of dirt on top to help the settling process.

You can expect to see construction on this sinkhole for about another 18 months. Should you orry about the sinkhole as you drive by?  

"Absolutely not. This has been here for a long time. There's been no motion out of this sinkhole for many, many years, and they're all around our communities now," said Jim Martin, of I-4 Trans4Mation. "Again, this is not for any particular concern with this current traffic. What we're doing is getting ready for the ultimate."

The ultimate I-4, that is. You will know that is a bit closer when you start seeing the more familiar bulldozers around the Maitland Interchange instead of the grout injectors.

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