BEND, OR -- Crews reopened a stretch of 3rd Street in Bend, early Tuesday morning, after a sinkhole appeared on Saturday. The Oregon Department of Transportation shut down the right lane of northbound 3rd St Saturday evening, between Quimby and Revere.  

ODOT's Peter Murphy tells KBND News the the sinkhole caught the department by surprise. "These things do happen. Suddenly you're faced with a situation where the highway has gone away, and that's what happened. We got in there to fix it, took care of it and are doing the best we can to make it work."

The problem was likely the result of a long process.  "Part of the highway underneath the surface gave way," Murphy says. "It looks like over time either rain water or snow melt has gotten into the area."  The water created a running channel, which caused the sinkhole. When crews responded this weekend the hole was dry.  It took four yards of material to fill the gap. 

Road crews cleared the site at about 4:30 Tuesday morning.