Sinkhole capital’s latest woe

WELLINGTON: Wellington Water is investigating a sinkhole that has developed in the capital’s city centre.

‘‘We’re investigating a sinkhole on Jervois Quay, Wellington. Traffic management has closed the left and centre lane on Jervois Quay, as well as the turning lane from Hunter St,’’ the agency said in a statement yesterday.

A Wellington City Council spokesman said it appeared the sinkhole was the result of a broken stormwater main.

He described the situation as ‘‘serious’’, because there was a 1.5mwide hole in the road that was 2m3m deep.

Yesterday evening, Wellington

Water said investigation work was ongoing. It is understood the agency intended to start digging to fix the fault last night, but safety procedures had to first be put in place as there were gas mains under the road.

In an unrelated incident yesterday afternoon, a gas main was damaged in Wellington’s Evans Bay during investigative work for a retaining wall refurbishment.

The sinkhole comes after weeks of water woes for the capital.

Wellington has been plagued with burst pipes and water mains, with staff left scrambling to stop wastewater spilling into the harbour. — The New Zealand Herald