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

  • New HC25 rock drill joins Montabert’s INTERMAT 2012 line-up
    February 8, 2012
    The latest hydraulic rock drill from Montabert is the new HC25 model, designed for underground equipment and surface drilling machines.
  • Putzmeister adds five-section pump
    January 6, 2017
    Putzmeister has added a five-section 38m, 160m3/hr concrete pump, which can be used to place loads inside buildings some 3m higher than the four-section option. Built on a 26tonne chassis, the new 38.5 can reach heights of 31m while leaving the final boom section to pass inside the building. In common with the company’s other machines, the 38.5 now has outrigger sensing, which feeds into the control system and prevents the boom from extending/slewing if the outriggers are not fully deployed. The machine als
  • Putzmeister adds five-section pump
    April 19, 2013
    Putzmeister has added a five-section 38m, 160m3/hr concrete pump, which can be used to place loads inside buildings some 3m higher than the four-section option. Built on a 26tonne chassis, the new 38.5 can reach heights of 31m while leaving the final boom section to pass inside the building. In common with the company’s other machines, the 38.5 now has outrigger sensing, which feeds into the control system and prevents the boom from extending/slewing if the outriggers are not fully deployed. The machine als
  • TomTom survey shows congestion worsening in 200 global cities
    April 10, 2015
    A survey of more than 200 major global cities shows that commuters in Istanbul experience the worst overall traffic congestion. The average 30-minute drive in Istanbul takes more than an hour during evening rush hour, leading to an extra 125 hours wasted stuck in traffic every year, according to the latest Traffic Index Survey from Tom Tom. However, in Los Angeles, a 30 minute commute in the evening rush hour will take 54 minutes, adding an extra 92 hours annually.