UPDATE: Thursday 19 May 2022
A section of Karawatha Drive in Mountain Creek damaged by a sinkhole will reopen to traffic from Friday 20 May.
The section, running north-west between Bundilla Boulevard and Prelude Drive, was closed Tuesday 10 May for emergency repairs. The works involved making the road structurally safe, ensuring the sewer network continued to flow while repairs were made and fixing or replacing damaged infrastructure.
The sinkhole is about four metres deep and three metres wide, about the size of an average family car.
Traffic management and reduced speed limits, will remain in place while subsurface sewer infrastructure is repaired.
We know the delays that works like this cause are frustrating, when people are doing the school run or the shopping, especially in the weather we’ve had recently. But sinkholes are dangerous. We were faced with a real technical, engineering and design challenge from the depth of the sinkhole, its location next to a busy road, the stability of the earth beneath the road surface and the existing infrastructure to work around. Then you add rain to the mix.
We would like to thank the community for their patience, and our crews who did a remarkable job, in difficult conditions, to get the road open, safely and as soon as possible.
We’re not finished yet, and our people will continue to work around the clock until the job is done.
While the road has reopened to traffic, motorists are urged to take care in the area. Drivers should allow extra travel time or consider alternate routes until all repairs are complete. Unitywater will avoid works during peak traffic, where possible.
UPDATE: Friday 13 May 2022
A section of Karawatha Drive, Mountain Creek (north westbound) between Bundilla Boulevard and Prelude Drive is closed to carry out emergency repair works to a sinkhole. The south-eastbound section of Karawatha Drive will remain open.
On Sunday 8 May we found a problem with a sewer manhole. When we investigated, we identified a sinkhole. Sinkholes can be dangerous as they compromise the integrity of the road.
It's not a straightforward repair. The size of the sinkhole, its location on a busy road and the wet weather are making repairs a challenge. But, our team is working around the clock to fix the problem.
We know this is an important section of road, and that the traffic delays are affecting people’s every-day lives, whether that’s buying groceries, picking the children up from school or getting to work.
We are sorry. We’re on to the problem. And we’ll get it fixed as quickly as we can.
