A section of road in the centre of the Japanese city of Fukuoda has reopened just days after a sinkhole opened up outside a busy railway station and threatened to topple nearby buildings (Justin McCurry, The Guardian, 15 November 2016). Workers toiled around the clock to fill in the section of road in just two days. The week-long rush to reopen the busy stretch of road included repairs to a sewage pipe and replacing traffic lights and utility poles that were swallowed when the sinkhole opened up shortly after 5 am local time on 8 November. The incident caused power cuts and disrupted phone signals, and gas and water supplies, but there were no reports of injuries. 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. Local media reported that the 30 x 27 m sinkhole, 15 metres deep, was caused by construction work on an extension to an underground line. The Fukuoka workers filled the hole with 6200 cubic metres of sand and cement. However, only six days after the hole was filled, the road started to sink again (StuffNZ, 30 November 2016). Fukuoka mayor Soichiro Takashima issued an apology after it was revealed that some sinking was expected. City officials had not told the public that the land would begin to compress, causing slight movement. 'If you have a little bit of anxiety, you'll have to stop and make sure that you're safe,' Takashima said. 'I am sorry to have troubled you,' he wrote on Facebook. The road had sunk by up to 7 cm.
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