2016 Ottawa sinkhole

A sinkhole unexpectedly appeared on June 8, 2016 on Rideau Street in downtown Ottawa just blocks from Parliament Hill. It was located near the underground Rideau station on the Confederation Line which was under construction. It halted the construction of the long-awaited underground Ottawa Transitway. The sinkhole or the associated water main break caused a gas leak, forced the evacuation of several building in the heart of Canada’s capital, such as Rideau Centre shopping mall and a hotel where hundreds were attending a conference, swallowed a minivan, but spared a crowded bus that passed just minutes before the sinkhole opened.
The broken water-main flooded the sinkhole and 300 metres of the LRT tunnel. A similar sinkhole had occurred elsewhere along the construction route in February 2014, but the 2016 event occurred as the tunneling effort was nearing completion with only 50 metres remaining. Ottawa's Mayor Jim Watson said the city has launched an investigation into the collapse.
On June 17, Jim Watson announced that the transitway is on track to re-open to bus and automobile traffic the week after. As of that time water continued to be pumped from the city's light rail tunnel where it accumulated to a depth of up to 2.5 metres.

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