The sinkhole in the Lijnbaansgracht came as no surprise to local residents. They suspect that it is due to overdue maintenance, heavy truck traffic or a combination of both.
They had seen loose vowels for days, but this morning the hole became so big that the alarm was raised. “It’s not so good, but all those quays are worn out,” says a local resident. “It has never been serviced. Also here. So you could wait for it.”
A firefighter says that sinkholes like this occur regularly. “The city is subsiding a bit. Overdue maintenance, let’s leave it at that. But also the bridges and quays, everything is collapsing a bit. So that’s why Amsterdam is a big mess of work. That includes this too .”
He suspects that a new piece of quay has to be made. “Fill up again with sand. And it has all been washed away by water. The sand is washed away. So at some point you get those hollow holes in the quays.”
Nevertheless, another resident does not feel unsafe in the street. “If you do a lot of fitness and fall into the hole, you’ll bounce anyway.”
The municipality is still investigating the origin of the hole, it is not clear when it will be filled.
Tags: Neighborhood surprised Lijnbaansgracht sinkhole quays worn
