Durban - Motorists on the N3 at Townhill, Pietermaritzburg, were horrified when a massive sinkhole appeared, resulting in a bus accident.
The sinkhole, which Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) officers on scene estimated to be more than 2m deep and 3m wide, opened at 4am on Thursday on the freeway’s fast lane before the Peter Brown off-ramp.
A heavily laden bus transporting passengers from Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg tried to avoid the sinkhole and crashed into a truck.
Fortunately, no one was injured.
RTI spokeswoman, Zinhle Mngomezulu, said traffic authorities cordoned off the stretch of road.
“We are unsure at this stage how long that section of road will be closed for. Engineers will determine what the extent of the damage is and how long it will take to be repaired. We will keep the public informed via the media,” Mngomezulu said.
Jacque Grobbler, an engineer and site agent attending to the repair, told the Daily News that equipment had been brought in and excavations had begun.
“It is difficult at this stage to estimate how long the repair will take because the problem appears to be much more serious than originally thought.”
Grobbler said a pipe underneath the road had collapsed, causing the tar and surface material to cave in.
“We still need to dig deeper to assess the damage.”
Grobbler said engineers had been in the process of planning asphalt coverage of that section of road because there was a “dip in the fast lane”.
“We were planning on going out to the site at 9am on Thursday when we heard about the sinkhole.” He could not be drawn on how much the repair to the road would cost.
The steeply graded stretch of road on the N3 at Townhill is notorious for potholes and dips.
A sinkhole opened up in the same area in 2011. Motorist Bradley Shannon, who uses the freeway daily, said it was scary to learn of the sinkhole.
“Thankfully a major accident was avoided. The road needs a serious upgrade with quality workmanship. This is a national freeway for crying out loud!”
Traffic was backed up on the N3 Durban-bound for several hours after the appearance of the sinkhole and bus accident. Only two lanes remained open at Townhill with heavy vehicles and trucks backed up on the slow lane.
A sinkhole is a depression in the road caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer of asphalt and may form gradually or suddenly.
The over-pumping or extraction of groundwater or a substantial weight placed on the structurally unsound road could also trigger the collapse of supporting material.
Daily News