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Spotsylvania resident Tommy Hartless stops his car behind the sinkhole on Honeysuckle Road. The chasm stranded his family.
Companies provided materials, labor and incidentals to fill |
By GEORGE WHITEHURST
A miracle has taken place on Honeysuckle Drive in Spotsylvania County, thanks to the generosity of several area businesses.
There's now no sign of the sinkhole that swallowed a chunk of the gravel driveway that leads to the Hartless family home.
Joy Construction, Rappahannock Construction Co. Inc., J&E Recycling, Luck Stone Inc., Somerset Homes and Gotta Go Inc. together donated about $50,000 in material and manpower to close the chasm that opened up after last month's heavy rains.
J&E Recycling donated the needed fill dirt, while Joy Construction provided manpower.
Rappahannock Construction Co. Inc. lent a massive loader to help clean up the pit, and donated culvert pipes and labor.
Richmond-based Luck Stone Inc. supplied the gravel.
Somerset Homes also donated materials, while Gotta Go Inc. supplied portable toilets to the work crew.
Carla Parker, safety director with Joy Construction and J&E Recycling, was proud that area businesses rallied around a family in need.
"It was so nice that these companies came together--that we all can pull together to help somebody," she said. "I was impressed by the whole situation. We had a lot of people calling, saying, 'What can we do to help?'"
The Hartless family was unavailable for comment yesterday, though they previously have offered effusive public thanks to those who lent them a hand.
Tom and Anna Hartless and their children discovered their problem on April 23, when they were unable to leave their home because a large section of Honeysuckle Road had collapsed.
The road grew increasingly unstable after Hurricane Isabel uprooted a culvert pipe under it in 2003.
As a result, the driveway eroded further after every heavy rainstorm. Thunderstorms on the night of April 22 were the final straw.
After news of the Hartlesses' plight was reported, area contractors began offering help.
Work crews surveyed the damage April 25, and the sinkhole was repaired by the next weekend.
To reach GEORGE WHITEHURST:
Email: gwhitehurst@freelancestar.com
