Parts of Tel Aviv’s main highway were closed on Sunday after officials noticed a spot on the road where asphalt was sinking.
The incident happened on the southern part of Ayalon Highway, between Glilot Interchange and KKL Interchange on the northern outskirts of the city.
Two of the four lanes were blocked to vehicles, creating heavy traffic in the area while workers widened the hole in the road to try to find out why the asphalt was sinking.
The company Ayalon Highways Co. said. that his engineering team was “removing the asphalt, conducting tests to identify the cause of the sinking and preparing to fill and tighten the hole.”
The statement said crews were working to reopen the lanes as quickly as possible.
There was no immediate update from the Israel Police.
The incident came after several sinkholes and other holes opened up in Tel Aviv and its suburbs in recent months, prompting fears that such incidents could become more widespread.
In January, a small hole opened up on Tel Aviv’s main Allenby street, and police said it was unclear what caused it.
Several days earlier, three buildings were evacuated due to fears they would collapse after a cave-in at a nearby construction site in the city center of Hod Hasharon.
Also in Hod Hasharon in January, a driver narrowly escaped when his car was pulled into a hole.
Borehole site that opened in Tel Aviv, January 21, 2023 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
In November, a sinkhole appeared in a parking lot between two other buildings in Hod Hasharon. Emergency services that arrived on the scene ordered the evacuation of a nearby building until city engineers could examine the hole to determine its cause.
Also that month, two more sinkholes appeared on the roads of Tel Aviv.
In September, a large sinkhole opened up on Ayalon Highway, shutting down the highway completely for hours and leaving a main exit closed for two weeks.
Last summer, a man was killed after the pool he was in collapsed and was pulled into a sinkhole that formed below.
