Sinkhole growing rapidly on College Hill, Auckland CBD, swallowing pieces of road - contractors on site

Contractors are at the site of a sinkhole in central Auckland this morning, which has swallowed pieces of the road that is closed outside the central police station. Auckland Transport has closed a section of College Hill between New and Scotland Sts and warning motorists to expect delays. Photo / Dean Purcell

Contractors are at the site of a sinkhole in central Auckland this morning, which has swallowed pieces of the road that is closed outside the central police station.

Auckland Transport has closed a section of College Hill between New and Scotland Sts and is warning motorists to expect delays.

Eastbound lanes towards the CBD are closed while works are underway, while one lane is open westbound towards Ponsonby.

College Hill is a busy arterial road into the city from the inner west suburbs of Ponsonby and Herne Bay and a route to the Northern Motorway.

This is the view right now pic.twitter.com/hfXdM0U0Sp

— You (@planet_enjoyer) July 24, 2023

UPDATE 7:05AM
College Hill is now open westbound, and still closed eastbound, currently between Scotland and England Streets.
Stop 7112 - is now open; 7109, 7110 and 7111 are still closed.
Use alternative Stops 1304, 1349 or 7113 until further notice. https://t.co/AvfjsB3o3p pic.twitter.com/xhvXyb9aO9

— Auckland Transport Travel Alerts (@AT_TravelAlerts) July 24, 2023

The sinkhole in College Road has grown to the size of a car and has created traffic chaos for early morning commuters. Photo / Carson Bluck

Andrew Skelton, head of operations for Auckland Council’s Health Waters, said the big hole opened yesterday.

A stormwater pipe that was due for renewal this August had developed further damage, causing the soil and road above it to subside, he said.

Temporary work is underway to secure the damage and protect the road, and this is due to be completed by the end of the week.

Skelton said Healthy Waters had plans and a design in place to complete this pipe renewal and this work will begin immediately following the temporary fix to the pipe and road.

Contractors are at the site of a sinkhole in central Auckland this morning, which has swallowed pieces of the road that is closed outside the central police station.Photo / Dean Purcell

The site is not far away from a sinkhole that appeared at the bottom of College Hill after the January 27 floods.

The latest sinkhole is worrying social media users as it grows rapidly.

A user who posted a video of the sinkhole to Twitter tagged Auckland Transport, seemingly alerting them to the hole at 3.30pm yesterday

@AklTransport hey, uhhh, FYI there’s a sinkhole forming on College Hill right now pic.twitter.com/ExrKosHXTl

— You (@planet_enjoyer) July 24, 2023

The sinkhole is positioned on College Hill, 20m down from the Auckland police headquarters.

College Hill is now open westbound, and still closed eastbound, currently between Scotland and England Sts.

Motorists are advised to use an alternative route.

It is believed the issue with the road began during the Auckland Anniversary floods at the beginning of this year.

Photos taken by the Herald just two weeks ago show the hole had already begun to form. However, it was previously covered by sheets of metal.

The hole, covered by sheets of steel plate, on July 9 of this year. Photo / Alex Burton