Tunnelling on North East Link paused after 7.5-metre sinkhole appears

Major Road Projects Victoria has confirmed tunnelling operations for the North East Link will remain paused until an investigation has found the cause of a sinkhole that appeared on a sports oval in Melbourne’s north-east on Monday.

“We’re taking a very cautious approach to this issue,” chief executive Duncan Elliott said, acknowledging the machines being used for the multibillion-project were “quite close” to the Heidelberg pit.

Elliott said it was too early to say how long that investigation would take or how much rectification works would cost taxpayers.

“Clearly, we don’t like this stuff happening. These are the best machines in the world. So when it does happen, it’s not a good outcome for anyone.”

Elliott said community safety was his and the tunnelling team’s main priority.

“We are actually confident that the tunnel boring machines have been a contributing factor – not necessarily caused the problem – but certainly a contributing factor,” he said.

But residents who live near AJ Burkitt Oval say they are nervous about the risk to homes.

Emilia and Sheldon Williams, who have lived in the area for 50 years, said residents were concerned after what had happened.

“We’re just lucky no one was injured or swallowed up by this sinkhole,” Emilia said. “I think everyone now is very nervous. Is their home safe?”

There have been no reports of injuries, but the State Emergency Service is urging people to stay away from the area. Construction workers had fenced off a wide part of the area by Tuesday morning. Two police later arrived and told people to keep a wide berth.

The North East Link’s website shows that its two tunnel-boring machines – Gillian and Zelda – are currently just north of the oval where the sinkhole emerged. The machines have been operating about 20 metres underground, carving out earth as part of the project.

A North East Link spokesperson said there was “no immediate threat to the community or residential properties”.

A post on the Banyule City Council Facebook page on Tuesday morning said: “The construction consortium delivering the North East Link Project, Spark, has taken control of the site to undertake assessments and manage safety within the area. Please continue to stay away from the area.”

One witness, Nick, told ABC Radio Melbourne’s Breakfast show that the sinkhole had grown from about two metres wide on Monday evening.

“About 20 minutes before I’d arrived [on Monday] … about a two-metre by two-metre hole had just collapsed in the side of the oval,” Nick said.

Project authorities said on Tuesday afternoon that the pit was about 7.5 metres wide and 3.5 metres deep.

Resident Raphael, who has lived in the area for 26 years, said he went for a run when the sinkhole opened up but hadn’t known about it until a friend shared a photo with him online.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said. “I run along the Yarra trail here, and I just didn’t see it. There were no fences up at that point, but when I got home a mate sent me a photo. I finished work this morning and just came by to check it out. It’s so bizarre.”

The oval, which is one of several in the area, is used for local sport, but Raphael said the grounds were usually busy in the evening with dog walkers and people exercising.

“There seemed to be a few kids around while it was all unfolding, there were a lot of people around,” he said.

The oval is one of two used by Banyule Football and Banyule Cricket clubs. Banyule Cricket Club president Brad Bowler said the closure of the oval would affect the majority of the teams, which had to postpone training and games.

“We’re talking to the council to try and find grounds [to play on] because we’ve lost significant grounds due to the North East Link development. This is going to cost us a lot of money revenue-wise,” he said.

Bowler said surveyors had been out on the ground earlier in the week before the sinkhole developed.

The North East Link, which will connect the Eastern Freeway in Bulleen with the Metropolitan Ring Road at Greensborough, is predicted to take 15,000 trucks off suburban streets and cut travel times by half an hour.

Opposition Leader Jess Wilson blamed the sinkhole on “mismanagement” of the project and called on Premier Jacinta Allan to reassure residents their homes were not at risk.

“Thank god this did not happen when there was a local cricket match under way,” she said. “The premier needs to guarantee and answer questions to ensure that local residents that are going to see these boring machines going underneath their homes, are safe.”

Opposition transport spokesman Evan Mulholland urged the government to be “transparent with Victorians about how this has occurred”.

“What delays and blowouts will be inflicted on taxpayers? And [the government needs to] assure Victorians that this won’t happen again?” Mulholland said.

“This sinkhole is the perfect metaphor for the Allan Labor government’s management of this project … the costs of the North East Link have become a bottomless pit. What started as a $10 billion project has sunk to $26 billion, and counting.”

Transport Infrastructure Minister Gabrielle Williams said Victoria was home to world-class engineering expertise and that it was important to let investigators do their jobs.

In February 2025, a sinkhole emerged near the tunnel’s two boring machines in Lower Plenty.

The 10-kilometre road has been plagued by budget blowouts, with the most recent estimate in December 2023 putting the cost at $26 billion.

That is more than double the initial price tag of $10 billion provided when the project was first announced by the Andrews government in 2016.

The toll road is expected to open in 2028.

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