Part of the road surface in the municipality of Tielt (in the West Flanders province) collapsed on Wednesday evening, creating a large sinkhole of about four metres deep and six metres wide.
The hole formed just before the traffic lights at the junction of Deinsesteenweg and Zuiderring in the direction of Tielt. The road surface had risen slightly earlier in the day and around 18:00, it collapsed. When the road surface sank, no cars were waiting in front of the traffic lights. An oncoming car was still able to brake in time.
"Due to deterioration and age, the sewer system has collapsed and a sinkhole was created. A project is underway to renovate the sewerage network," Terry Grzesiak of wastewater treatment company Aquafin told local news outlet WTV, adding that repair works are in full swing.
"Currently they are digging away the asphalt so that there is more space to add new pipes to the sewerage system," he said. "After that, trucks will come to backfill the ground."
The hole will be closed as soon as possible. Currently, traffic can still use one lane. If the repair works go according to plan, the road should reopen to traffic by Friday evening, VRT reports.
