After months of Lystra Church Road being closed due to a sinkhole developing, the thoroughfare re-opened this past Friday.

Lystra Church Road in Chatham County closed back in January because of a sinkhole that developed due to a failure of underground culverts that were installed in the early 1970’s.

The $2.2 million repair began on March 21. The project consisted of replacing two 60-inch corrugated pipes under the road and replacing them with one 12-foot-diameter aluminum pipe, according to officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

The project was delayed in June and July due to heavy rains interfering with the final stages of the work, especially paving.

Division Eight Construction Engineer John Olinger said the project was unique for several reasons, including because the crew had to deal with Jordan Lake, which is on both sides of the road, by installing dams.