Wellington commuters are again being warned of potential rush-hour traffic delays due to the ongoing repairs of a sinkhole on Jervois Quay.
Wellington City Council is urging commuters to keep an eye on media and social media early on Friday to avoid delays, following overnight repairs.
The sinkhole emerged on Wednesday, at the Hunter St intersection, and had caused a cavity around 3 metres deep to open up under the road, and a 1.5-metre wide hole in the road.
A council spokesman said the sinkhole was caused by a break in a stormwater pipe deep beneath the road which, through the ebb and flow of the tide, washed away the road base above the pipe.
Work was carried out at the site on Wednesday night and was planned to continue again overnight on Thursday, with workers beginning shoring work to stabilise the ground and the road around the full extent of the broken pipe.
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On engineers advice, further work is needed tonight to conduct a CCTV inspection of the damaged pipe and to further shore up the sinkhole to reduce the risk to road users from any further collapse, the council said in a statement on Thursday evening.
We expect this work to continue over the next couple of nights, after which the road will be able to be fully re-opened. This will mean continued traffic disruption until that work is complete, and we thank motorists for their patience while this work is undertaken.
It is hoped that two southbound lanes of Jervois Quay will be available for Fridays morning rush-hour traffic, but that will be confirmed, or otherwise, before 6am on Friday.
The council said a full repair of the pipe would still need to be carried out.
The pipe was due for renewal within the next 10 years and this will now be accelerated to take place within the next six months. We will keep the public informed of when this full repair is likely to take place.
The 450mm diameter pipe, made of earthenware and laid in the 1900s, fills and empties with the tide.
Over time, a hole in the pipe was thought to have enabled water to gradually erode and wash away the sub-soil, causing a collapse of the surrounding ground.
Workers assess the sinkhole on Jervois Quay on Wednesday afternoon.
The hole is located directly above a stormwater culvert and some gas mains but no drinking water or wastewater pipes are believed to be in the area.
Elsewhere in Wellington, Residents in parts of Karori had water cut off after a water main burst on Collier Avenue on Thursday.
Wellington Water said a water tanker would provide a temporary supply to residents.