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

  • Cat paves the way in Portugal
    June 22, 2012
    Caterpillar pavers were used recently to help improve drainage on a vital road into a popular tourist destination in Portugal. The Avenida Marginal is the main road access into Cascais, a village with historic hotels, winding roads and stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean attracting thousands of holidaymakers each year. However, the highway had been suffering from poor draining resulting in rivulets being formed in heavy rain, making travelling hazardous for cars and pedestrians alike.
  • River level monitoring to reduce scour risk
    July 11, 2022
    An OTT ecoLog 1000 water level logger with cellular data connection to Hydromet Cloud was trialled upon the Vales Burn Bridge in Scotland
  • Joy riding
    August 15, 2019
    Our Skidmarks page is highly rated by readers. Your input could help make this page even more entertaining. If you come across any amusing road-related stories or pictures email me at [email protected] JOY RIDING A couple in the US recently took advantage of the self-driving features of a Tesla car for reasons other than transportation. They ignored the suggestions from Tesla to remain alert even when the vehicle was using its self-drive mode and instead engaged in sexual acts, which they recorded on vid
  • Pothole problem
    February 28, 2012
    A British driver suffered a particularly serious pothole problem recently, which resulted in his vehicle being seriously damaged. Flooding along the busy A464 in Shropshire caused subsidence under the road, which then entirely washed away a section of the surface leaving a 1.2m deep hole.