Sinkhole of suburbia!
Residents left stranded as the St Albans abyss opens overnight
IT started as a small, sagging hole in the pavement, prompting worried residents to call the council.
That was a week ago, and the worst that happened was, say locals, the postman tripped over in it.
But then early yesterday, the day that the 2ft by 3ft hole was due to be repaired, the bottom suddenly fell out of Fontmell Close – and a massive crater opened up.
The sinkhole is 66ft in diameter and 33ft deep: enough to fit two double- decker buses stacked one on top of the other.
Some residents of the quiet cul-de-sac of 1960s houses and bungalows in suburban St Albans, Hertfordshire, were woken by a loud bang as the ground gave way and the abyss spread across the road. Others slept through it and tried to go to work, only to find their street swarming with emergency services and engineers – and realising that their cars were now trapped in their drives.
Twenty people from five households were evacuated and gas, electricity and water supplies were cut off to 52 properties, including some in a nearby street. No one was injured and no houses collapsed, but Hertfordshire County Council warned that it could be weeks before things returned to normal and some properties might never be safe to live in again.
Julie Langdon, 39, a mother of four who lives in a five-bedroom house in Fontmell Close, said: ‘I got up at 6am, went out to get in the car and a gasman was outside and told me that I wouldn’t be able to drive down the road. Then I just saw this big hole, about ten houses further down. I have never seen anything like it in my life.’
Last night, as residents were staying with relatives and friends or had booked themselves into hotels, the cause of the sinkhole was being investigated. Peter Hobbs, of the British Geological Survey, said: ‘Sinkholes are caused by dissolution of rock such as chalk. They can be caused by collapse into former mine workings. Changes in the water table may affect the sta- bility of underground cavities. Recently, the weather in this part of the country has been relatively dry and water tables may have lowered. The strata at the site consist of about four metres of sands, silts and gravels overlying chalk. It isn’t clear at present which of these factors could be the cause.’