48 HOURS IN JAPAN

48 HOURS IN JAPAN

Last week a massive sinkhole opened up in the downtown core of the Japanese city of Fukuoka, dwarfing the Rideau street sinkhole. According to local Japanese media, construction crews worked around the clock to fill the gaping hole that swallowed pipes, lights and poles. 
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The workers finished in two days. The road reopened fully on Tuesday after passing scrutiny from health and safety inspectors. In contrast, it took weeks for repair crews to fill the sinkhole on Rideau street. And it was nearly a month until buses were allowed back on the stretch of road.
According to the Guardian, “the mayor of Fukuoka, Soichiro Takashima, said the affected ground was now 30 times stronger than before, adding that a panel of experts would be set up to establish the cause of the cave-in.” Experts do believe the Fukuoka sinkhole is related to a tunnelling project.  Sinkholes and infrastructure issues are top of mind again for Ottawans after three workers were rescued following a construction failure in LRT tunnels last week.