© John Holtby and Brian BancroftThis sinkhole formed early Friday after a road collapse in downtown Ottawa.
A sinkhole eight metres wide and 12 metres deep has opened up at the construction site digging the eastern entrance to Ottawa's light rail tunnel.
The cause isn't yet known, city officials said. No one was injured.
Ottawa police reported the sinkhole on Waller Street, just south of Laurier Avenue, at about 1 a.m. Police said the road collapsed leaving a hole on the Transitway near the University of Ottawa.
A news release from the City of Ottawa confirmed the sinkhole formed where workers had been tunnelling for the eastern portal of the Confederation Line LRT project.
It said work crews from the Rideau Transit Group had begun 24-hour tunnelling operations on Wednesday, and that they were working at the site when the sinkhole formed.
Tunnel work suspended
The city also said tunnelling operations have been suspended while officials investigate.
Rideau Transit Group officials have also started to fill the hole with concrete to stabilize it, the release added.
Water, sanitary and storm services to 50 Laurier Ave. were affected, because the city had to cut them off for the work.
Traffic and buses are being rerouted, and Laurier Avenue is closed eastbound between Queen Elizabeth Drive and Waller.
A briefing is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET to update the public on the sinkhole and LRT construction. The city cancelled a 1:15 p.m. news conference for the one-year anniversary of the light rail contract.
Melt day. After a long frozen spell, we got rain and above zero temperatures. The whole city is dealing with the melt and rain water. Half my street is huge puddles that can't drain because of ice blockage. We've had a lot of snow and ice since last thaw. Earlier in the winter, there were a lot of fluctuations between freezing and above freezing. It plays hell on pretty much anything that gets soaked, breaks things, expands cracks. Road maintenance in the city is a huge cost, asphalt gets destroyed every winter pretty badly. My father managed city road construction projects, so I know a lot about it. This particular part of Ottawa is very close to the Rideau Canal, which empties into the Ottawa river not too far away, and the sinkhole is above the level of the Rideau, and WAY above the level of the Ottawa. So there's a lot of ground there that can erode away, and drainage nearby. for any underground silt water to escape to.
Think I'll take a bike ride downtown if the rain stops and check it out. But right now it's miserable. Though my bike DOES need a shower from all the winter salt all over it.
This morning the train crossing near my house was stuck closed. Salty water from the melt must have gotten in the sensors' circuitry. I'm sure there are similar problems all across the city.