Skip to main content

VIDEO: A sinking feeling in Florence

Be careful where you park your car in Florence, Italy. Might be best to not leave your vehicle next to the River Arno. In this case, 20 drivers returned to their cars only to find them sitting in a 6.5m deep sinkhole next to the river. The ‘hole’ appeared after what media reports said was a water main burst that flooded the road’s substructure, dropping nearly 200m of pavement into rushing water from the ruptured pipe. Vehicles remained out of the river, thanks to a brick wall. Nobody was injured in the
May 27, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Be careful where you park your car in Florence, Italy. Might be best to not leave your vehicle next to the River Arno.

In this case, 20 drivers returned to their cars only to find them sitting in a 6.5m deep sinkhole next to the river.

The ‘hole’ appeared after what media reports said was a water main burst that flooded the road’s substructure, dropping nearly 200m of pavement into rushing water from the ruptured pipe. Vehicles remained out of the river, thanks to a brick wall.

Nobody was injured in the collapse and emergency crews quickly began the cleanup of the area that leads up to the city’s iconic Ponte Vecchio. Tourists were quick to capitalise on the sight by taking ‘selfies’ with the sunken parking area in the background.

Related Content

  • New Angolan bridge offers improved connectivity
    September 30, 2013
    Drivers in Angola are benefiting from a bridge that spans the Catumbela River, taking the place of an old structure that had proven not fit for purpose. The US$35 million cable stayed bridge is located in the highway between Benguela and Lobito, around 7km from Angola’s Atlantic coast and is one of a series of new infrastructure developments in the country. Angola suffered a long period of war that impacted on its people and infrastructure. The war resulted in severe damage to the country’s road system alon
  • UK contractor Ringway provides protection for autonomous vehicles
    April 3, 2018
    Ringway, a Eurovia company in the UK, has taken part in a self-driving vehicle test on public roads in the English city of Milton Keynes. For the three-day test, two Ringway trucks provided a rolling roadblock behind an autonomous Jaguar Land Rover passenger vehicle. The trucks were there to ensure other highways users were safe and not inconvenienced by the tests, according to Ringway. Ringway also supplied two supervisors and two traffic management vehicles.
  • Meeting the IRF Fellows and hearing of their positive experiences
    April 23, 2019
    Morgan Morris, a master’s student at the University of Central Florida, recounts her life-changing experience as President of the 2019 Class of IRF Fellows After the short span of a week, a graduate research IRF Fellow transforms into an approachable, professional leader overflowing with inspiration and ideas. “In some ways, attending the IRF Fellows Road Scholar Program is comparable to going to an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet. You are not sure what exactly you signed up for, but in the end, you rea
  • Alarming results from US distracted driving survey
    May 16, 2013
    Transurban-Fluor and AAA Mid-Atlantic have published an alarming report on distracted driving on the busy I-95 highway in Northern Virginia in the US. The two bodies have launched a regional campaign focused on reducing distracted driving in the 95 Express Lanes construction zone. According to the report, almost all (94%) of frequent I-95 drivers have seen someone engage in dangerous, distracted behaviour while driving on this busy commuter route. In addition, more than half (56%) of I-95 drivers use their