Sinkhole found in Centurion, Gauteng. Image: @firstgroup_FRT / Twitter
Sinkhole found in Centurion, Gauteng. Image: @firstgroup_FRT / Twitter
A troublesome sinkhole, which appeared alongside major highways running through Centurion last month, is again responsible for a set of road closures on the N1 – and some motorists may have their weekend travel disrupted.
The only upside here is that SANRAL have been able to warn us well in advance about the upcoming N1 closures. A team of geological experts need to examine the sinkhole on Sunday evening – an excursion that will require a partial highway shutdown.
The team on site will be there to assess how the site can be ‘rehabilitated’, ensuring the safety of road users in the region. We’ve got the full details about the proposed lane closures here:
Centurion is heavily maligned for its terrible ability to manage rainfall. More often than most, the city finds itself underwater during any decent storm, with low-lying bridges and busy commuter routes flooding at frequent intervals throughout the year. The sinkhole emerged just metres away from the N1/R21 highways in January.
Indeed, the cause has not been helped by the large presence of dolomite in the ground here. When it gets soaked through, the earth begins to crack and break up, causing sinkholes to appear. Unfortunately, this latest incident couldn’t have placed itself more awkwardly.
LOOK: Huge sinkhole near N1 causing MAJOR traffic delayshttps://t.co/RGhIE9r24J
— TheSouthAfrican.com (@TheSAnews) January 10, 2022
Traffic on a busy stretch of the N1 has been at a near-standstill on Monday, after a sinkhole appeared near the highway.