PICTURES

Sinkhole appears along Commonwealth Avenue

Large hole in the road covered by canvas at Commonwealth Avenue West near Dover MRT Station in the direction towards Buona Vista.  -- ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN
Large hole in the road covered by canvas at Commonwealth Avenue West near Dover MRT Station in the direction towards Buona Vista.  -- ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN
Large hole in the road covered by canvas at Commonwealth Avenue West near Dover MRT Station in the direction towards Buona Vista.  -- ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN
Large hole in the road covered by canvas at Commonwealth Avenue West near Dover MRT Station in the direction towards Buona Vista.  -- ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

Part of a road along Commonwealth Avenue towards the city collapsed on Monday morning, causing a sinkhole to appear.

It happened at a site where an SP PowerGrid-appointed contractor was laying underground electricity cables for an ongoing project.

Two lanes were closed and signs directing traffic were on-site. The Straits Times understands that one lane was already closed for the project, which was supposed to be completed by March next year. A second lane was closed after the sinkhole appeared, but traffic was not affected.

At least 17 workers were present, and several were seen covering muddy equipment with tarpaulin sheets. Officials from the Land Transport Authority and Singapore Power were also on-site, but declined to speak to The Straits Times. However, one worker, who declined to be named, admitted that "whatever happened was unexpected".

No one was injured in the incident. An SP PowerGrid spokesman said the company is investigating the cause of the incident, and issued an apology to road users for any inconvenience caused due to the road closure.

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