Skip to main content

A sinkhole in St Albans near London swallows up the road

Around 20 residents of St Albans, a town near London, were evacuated after a huge sinkhole appeared overnight. The hole, 20m in diameter and 10m deep, cut right across at the road and well into an adjoining garden, leaving one family’s car stranded on the driveway. Residents are said to have heard a crash before the huge crater appeared, according to a BBC report. The local fire service said it had been aware of a small hole that was due to be filled in, but a resident called the station at 1:30 in the mor
October 9, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Around 20 residents of St Albans, a town near London, were evacuated after a huge sinkhole appeared overnight.

The hole, 20m in diameter and 10m deep, cut right across at the road and well into an adjoining garden, leaving one family’s car stranded on the driveway.

Residents are said to have heard a crash before the huge crater appeared, according to a %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal BBC report Visit BBC page false http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34411214 false false%>.

The local fire service said it had been aware of a small hole that was due to be filled in, but a resident called the station at 1:30 in the morning to say the hole had "opened up substantially", the BBC reported.

The local authority, the Hertfordshire County Council, said a small hole had appeared in footpath nearby and workers were scheduled to soon fill it in.

One heavily pregnant woman was woken by the sound of the noise, “like an earthquake". Her husband jumped out of bed, looked out the window and said the road had gone.

"If this doesn't bring on my labour then nothing will," she said.

Related Content

  • BI Conseil shows INTERMAT 2012 how Swiss watches can save lives
    February 3, 2012
    BI Conseil is aiming for Swiss watches to become as standard as hard hats in preventing injury on site.
  • Vietnam Expressway Corp to sell five highway routes
    October 31, 2014
    Vietnam is considering selling its ownership in several major highways to help pay for more road projects. The Ministry of Transport (MoT) recently said that the government’s infrastructure investor body Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Finance Investment (VIDIFI), would sell 70% of its ownership in the Hanoi–Hai Phong Highway project to a buyer from India. The move is part of a strategy that could see Vietnam sell off more of its investment in highway projects, either under construction or complete
  • Kubota announces new Chinese diesel engine factory in Wuxi City
    January 6, 2017
    Japanese engine manufacturer Kubota will use Bauma to announce its plan to build another engine plant in Wuxi City, China for the production of vertical-shaft diesel engines. This facility has 18,000 m2 of manufacturing space and will be a fully-owned subsidiary of Kubota China Holdings Co. Production levels will reach 97,000 engines a year and operations start in 2014. Once opened, Kubota will have 6 manufacturing plants around the world for diesel engines.
  • Kubota announces new Chinese diesel engine factory in Wuxi City
    February 15, 2013
    Japanese engine manufacturer Kubota will use Bauma to announce its plan to build another engine plant in Wuxi City, China for the production of vertical-shaft diesel engines. This facility has 18,000 m2 of manufacturing space and will be a fully-owned subsidiary of Kubota China Holdings Co. Production levels will reach 97,000 engines a year and operations start in 2014. Once opened, Kubota will have 6 manufacturing plants around the world for diesel engines.