Sydney's new Black Hole

[Mechan1k]

Just thought I'd post up a pic or 2 as I find it.
Traffic has been hell due to the Lane Cove Black Hole.
Dodgy planning and a suspected burst water main.

Gives the Lane Cove Residential activists some more ammunition against the Government ... not that the government listens anyway.

[Mechan1k]

UP to 50 residents of a block of units may need to be re-housed after part of their building collapsed into a hole caused by a road tunnel project.




A corner of the three-storey block of units was left teetering over a massive cavern that opened up following the collapse of a section of the $1.1 billion Lane Cove Tunnel project in Sydney.

Forty-seven residents fled their units about 2.30am after being woken by a loud rumbling sound.

Others were woken and evacuated by firefighters.

They emerged to find a hole opening up under the front of their building, which led to an air vent in the partly completed tunnel project.

As the 10m-deep hole widened, sections of the unit block on Longueville Rd at Lane Cove began crumbling into the pit, followed by at least one tree.

Tunnel workers soon began pumping hundreds of cubic metres of concrete into the gaping hole to try to prop up the units.

For hours, parts of a bottom-floor unit and balcony were left tilting alarmingly before they too collapsed late yesterday afternoon.

Resident Neil Smith said there was "a massive great big hole in the pavement and it goes all the way to the tunnel, you can't see an end to it".

Unit owner Guy Morrow added: "We woke to a cracking sound in the walls which was quite eerie.

"We heard a big thud and decided that we should get out when we saw that there was this huge crack that came across the bedroom wall and the living room wall – that was the scariest moment."

Yesterday no one would accept responsibility for the hole, which tunnel builders Leighton Holdings said was caused by an "unforeseen geological event".

However, the NSW Government said the residents, who were refused permission to immediately return to their homes and were instead put in a hotel, were entitled to compensation.

Assistant Police Commissioner Mark Goodwin said the building, containing 26 units, might have to be demolished.

"It is quite unstable, it is yet to undergo an engineering assessment in terms of whether part or the whole of the building can be saved," he said.

The tunnel operators, Leighton subsidiaries Thiess and John Holland Group, said they had insurance to cover the incident, which caused Leighton's share price to fall sharply.

Leighton agreed that affected residents should be compensated but said it was too early to speculate on who would foot the bill. It is conducting its own investigation.

Rock slippage is believed to have caused the cave-in, which caused traffic mayhem on Epping Rd, a major arterial road.

The NSW Opposition called for work on the tunnel to halt while a safety audit was carried out.

"There's no doubt in my mind the Government have clearly tried to accelerate the program," Opposition leader Peter Debnam said.

However, Leighton denied it was a "rush job".

"We have absolutely not been taking any shortcuts," said a spokesman for the Thiess John Holland.

[bindi]

Yeah I saw it yesterday morning on the news, and last night saw the bed etc from the bottom left flat fall into the hole!

Geez, imagine waking up to your bedroom walls cracking apart...

[4.9 EF Futura]

So what's the big kaffuffle about this tunnel? ie. why so many people against it?

I dont know how you guys cope with sydney traffic!!

[loxxr6]

The tunnel operators, Leighton subsidiaries Thiess and John Holland Group, said they had insurance to cover the incident, which caused Leighton's share price to fall sharply.

Leighton agreed that affected residents should be compensated but said it was too early to speculate on who would foot the bill. It is conducting its own investigation.

Nice work. yeah, no worries, insurance will fix it.

From what I hear there's a stack places under Sydney which have foundations which are as solid as chalk.

Doesn't suprise me that that place at Lane Cove will soon be underground.

[LUXO_8]

i heard that insurance companies arent covering construction damage, so the affected people wont have a leg to stand on.....

this would suck in a big way

[Mechan1k]

They had the owner of that bottom flat on Nova 969 this morning ... at least the owner was laughing about it ... but he said the tenant was in bed as it slid across the floor ... with the walls creaking and cracking ... the room was that distorted that morning that the bedroom door jammed shut ... her flatmate had to kick her door in to get her out ... she looked out the bedroom window to find the massive hole.

Watching them trying to pout concrete into the hall looked like a kid ****ing into the Grand Canyon ... as if they are going to fill it overnight.

I wouldn't be surprised if more places collapsed.

[Mechan1k]

Originally Posted by 4.9 EF Futura

I dont know how you guys cope with sydney traffic!!

You get used to it. It's not that bad normally ... but what you call bad traffic ... I call a free-flowing road ... hee hee

[smciner1]

Pwnz3d (tm)!

:

[Mechan1k]

What they are more interested in now is saving the C0ckatiel in one of the flats more than anything .. *shakes head*

[joshf2]

Originally Posted by 4.9 EF Futura

So what's the big kaffuffle about this tunnel? ie. why so many people against it?

I dont know how you guys cope with sydney traffic!!

my friend, as someone who drove in perth for 5 years, has been driving in sydney for just over 2 years, and has driven through adelaide (all 60 minutes of it), you should be glad you live where you do.

most of sydney roads should be classified as parking lots, you spend more time in first gear than any other, and if you do manage to pick up enough speed to get out of first, chances are youre illegally doing it in a bus lane.

im thinking about moving to adelaide. purely cause; i dont have to pay tolls, or have to cope with traversing over 70+ kms to get from sydney city to, lets say, penrith, or find out that people forget how to drive when a mild amount of precipitation occurs.

[wulos]

Having to work around there atm is an ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE, as most would imagine.
I was waiting upon a truck to arrive onsite yesterday, from Chatswood, I was at Hunters Hill. This trip would normally take 15-20minutes in reasonable morning traffic. Yesterday the wait was over an hour, due to the extra volume of traffic in nearby roads, that had been detoured due to the collapse(or should that be fast tracked opening of new entry to LoneCave tunnel).

[Dodge]

i always thought sydney was a big hole... maybe they could film the next Block show there and train some olympic swimmers as well

[big_pete]

hehehehe........

[Dave_au]

Oh well, Melbourne is still the biggest hole above earth!!!








(only joking... or am I? )

[LUXO_8]

haha nice one pete

easy access to lane cove tunnel..... bwahahahaha!

[Lukeyson]

nice pic big pete, made my morning !! hahahahaha

I heard as of yesterday arvo, they had poured 2.7million dollars worth of concrete into the hole !! GOD DAMN thats alot of concrete !

[RED_EL_XR8]

Originally Posted by XR8fella

nice pic big pete, made my morning !! hahahahaha

I heard as of yesterday arvo, they had poured 2.7million dollars worth of concrete into the hole !! GOD DAMN thats alot of concrete !

It's a lot of hole! Takes a lot of hole to swallow blocks of flats! The best bit is the cost of a team of lads with broad accents chiseling an exit through it will all go on bill passed onto the mug public!

Originally Posted by Dave_au

Oh well, Melbourne is still the biggest hole above earth!!!








(only joking... or am I? )

Whats Melbourne got to do with it.........?????? LOL

[Mechan1k]

Actually Mt Druitt is the only mountain that's actually classed as a hole ... hee hee

[aimzes]

Actually Mt Druitt is the only mountain that's actually classed as a hole ... hee hee

ahahaha... good call.

[4.9 EF Futura]

Originally Posted by joshf2

and has driven through adelaide (all 60 minutes of it),

Damn, you must have got caught up in some nasty trafic :

[Falchoon]

Leightons have said they will give last week's market value to anyone that wants to sell out. I also read that the ventilation shaft was built in the wrong place - it should of been 65m away!

[KEV EB XR8]

You can quote me in a year or two,s time, but i have done a lot of work around lithgow and the subsidence and movement in the area is phenomonal.
As the whole place is mined underneath, they say if it goes , the whole of lithgow will fall in... scary............. :

[MO]

Originally Posted by KEV EB XR8

You can quote me in a year or two,s time, but i have done a lot of work around lithgow and the subsidence and movement in the area is phenomonal.
As the whole place is mined underneath, they say if it goes , the whole of lithgow will fall in... scary............. :

Same as Newcastle!!!!

[RED_EL_XR8]

And our next contestant on "Name that Hole" is .......................................