Disaster struck the Gautrain yesterday as the tunelling of the Gautrain caused a massive sink hole along one of the cities busiest roads. Oxford Road is a very busy road in Johannesburg and now that there is a 12 metre wide hole in the road. There are set to be some serious traffic problems in that part of the city. The builders of the Gautrain, Bombela, have stopped drilling now after this sink hole was formed. There are concerns as to how this hole was created and if there is a chance that there will be more problems along the way if they continue drilling.

At the point of the collapse, between 8th Avenue and North Road, the tunnel is about 10m below the road surface. No-one was injured when the road caved in , only a water pipe was damaged. Water quickly filled up the hole and seeped into the tunnel below.

The construction of the Gautrain has experienced many problems since it begun. It all started with the cost of the project. A lot of money is going into the construction of the Gautrain with some people calling for the money to be used for other more constructive purposes. The construction has also resulted in a lot of complaints from residents who are staying near where the Gautrain line will go through. The drilling of the tunnel has resulted in walls of homes near the tunnel to start having cracks. Residents are not too impressed with this and they are taking it up with those responsible for the insurance of the Gautrain.

It would be great to see the Gautrain being completed. There is really no turning back now that work has started, all we can hope for is that there are no more serious problems during the construction and that this hole in Oxford Road will be the last problem they face.