Tanjong Katong sinkhole backfilled; road to be repaved after PUB tests
SINGAPORE – The sinkhole in Tanjong Katong Road South has been backfilled, and national water agency PUB will conduct tests before the caved-in road is repaved.
Giving this update in a Facebook post on July 28, Mr Goh Pei Ming, an MP for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, said PUB 's tests will include drilling probes, which are up to 20m deep, to check that there are no air pockets in the soil.
These come on top of radar scans to assess ground conditions.
A section of Tanjong Katong Road South collapsed on the evening of July 26, swallowing a car and its driver. The driver was rescued and sent to Raffles Hospital for observation. She had experienced muscular pain.
The sinkhole was located near a PUB construction site, which involved sewer laying works.
The road has since been closed, with traffic and bus services diverted.
The tests and analysis will take some time, said Mr Goh, who is also Minister of State for Home Affairs as well as Social and Family Development.
'I understand residents are keen to know when the road can be reopened. I think it is best we give the agencies the time to be doubly sure the road is safe before we reopen,' he added.
In a statement later in the day, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said it is starting an independent investigation into the incident under the Building Control Act.
The probe will examine the circumstances leading to the sinkhole's formation, identify the causes, and act against any non-compliance under the Building Control Act and Regulations.
'Given the complexity of the incident, the investigations could take several months to complete. It will include detailed geotechnical analysis and other validation tests by BCA and its appointed consultants,' the authority added.
Mr Goh said traffic was smooth when he visited the site on the morning of July 28, noting that the Land Transport Authority had put out messages to motorists, as well as worked with the Ministry of Education to notify parents of road diversions.
Tanjong Katong Road South is on the boundary of Mountbatten constituency and Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.
PUB said on July 27 that the works at the site next to the sinkhole involved the construction of a 16m-deep shaft to connect three existing sewer lines, and a structure in the shaft had failed at about 5.50pm on July 26 – around the same time the sinkhole formed.
It is still unclear what contributed to the failure of the caisson ring, a concrete structure in the shaft.
A caisson ring is a watertight concrete cylinder that is sunk underground to form a stable foundation for other structures.
The Straits Times has asked PUB for more information, including the nature of the failure, the ground monitoring regime in place before the incident, as well as whether a reported burst water pipe nearby on July 25 was connected to the sinkhole occurring the next evening.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this report quoted MP Goh Pei Ming saying that LTA will conduct tests before the road is repaved. Mr Goh has since updated his Facebook post to say PUB is carrying out the tests.
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