A section of Interstate 80 reopened this morning in southwest Iowa after emergency repairs had to be made overnight. Troy Jerman, with the Iowa Department of Transportation office in Atlantic, says contrary to earlier reports, the interstate did not collapse last night.

Jerman says it was just the shoulder that gave way. Immediately afterward, contractors stopped working and investigated the extent of the void. He says the situation began to unfold about 8 o’clock last night while the crew was installing a pipe under I-80 between Exits 1-A and 4 in Council Bluffs.

Workers discovered the void that ran under the eastbound lanes and the outside shoulder fell in. Jerman says they’re still not sure what caused the void, which extended all the way across the roadway. He says crews worked through the night to make sure the road would be open as quickly as possible.

The crew cut out a 10-foot section of the interstate where the void was located, backfilled it with granular materials and put a patch of pavement on top. It reopened about 8 A.M., just in time for the morning rush.

(Reporting by, Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic)