Thursday, November 10, 2005

Buried grader

Urban legend or truth? That is the question following the collapse of part of the Lane Cove tunnel (currently under construction in Sydney) last week. The collapse happened on the doorstep of a block of units and to make the area safe, 1000 cubic metres of concrete was poured into the hole. But was there an excavation grader in the hole at the time, and did they leave it there? I've heard the story from three different sources now (one from within the RTA) so I guess it is possible, even if a little hard to believe - unless you think of it from a safety point of view ... the event happens - the tunnel collapse is in progress - the driver of the grader escapes - and then when the time comes, the decision has to be made whether to send someone back into the hole with the possibility of the block of flats above caving in to it - or leaving the grader, which is probably already partially covered in rock and earth. Chances are, as the rush is on to stabilise the area that someone will say "Leave the grader ... Just make sure someone marks it off the asset register so we don't spend forever looking for it. And someone put up a little plaque: Here lies George the Grader."

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