Fears more sinkholes could appear after mine shaft collapses on popular road

Drivers have been lucky to avoid injury after a collapsed mine shaft turned into a massive sinkhole on a popular road in Melbourne’s outer northeast. Neighbours say the area is “like Swiss cheese” with old shafts riddled throughout the city’s fringe.

The SES has closed the area surrounding a sinkhole on One Tree Hill Rd in Smiths Gully.

A gaping sinkhole remains in the middle of a popular route in Melbourne’s outer northeast after a 50-year-old old mine shaft collapsed.

One Hill Tree Rd in Smiths Gully is currently closed, but neighbours fear more holes in the ground could open up at any time, with the area covered with historic chasms.

Eltham State Emergency Service unit controller Glenn O’Donnell said a motorist had driven over a hole on Saturday morning, thinking it was just a pothole.

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But in the rear-view mirror the driver noticed he caused more of the road to collapse around the hole.

Mr O’Donnell said he had not seen anything similar to the 4.5m-deep and 1.5m-wide hole before.

“There are old mine shafts all throughout Smiths Gully, Panton Hill and Warrandyte,” he said.

“We’ve been called out to small sinkholes and potholes half a metre big, but nothing like this before — it’s a rather deep mine shaft.”

Mr O’Donnell said the historic mine shaft had been covered by timber sleepers, then with rock and soil and finally the surface of the road.

“In time that timber has rotted until it’s finally given way,” he said.

The collapsed mine shaft was more than 4.5m deep.

“The vibrations of vehicles and trucks passing over it would have also weakened the structure, so drivers have been very fortunate not to have been involved in something serious.”

Mr O’Donnell said rubbish disposal trucks often used the route.

He also said One Tree Hill Rd was the most direct route between Christmas Hills and Smiths Gully.

Neighbour Richard Morris said it was alarming nobody knew the precise locations of the historic mine shafts.

“It’s like Swiss cheese here, the whole place is covered in old mine shafts,” he said.

“In the bush around here you have different mining zones and Chinese burial zones and if you’re not careful you could easily end up down a 30ft hole.”

Mr Morris said mine shafts would often collapse in the bush.

“They then get covered with steel plates, but you wouldn’t go hiking or bush walking around here unless you really know the territory,” he said.

Stan Bone, who was a private gold miner in the Smiths Gully area for more than 50 years and retired just nine years ago, could not confirm how many mine shafts existed.

“They’re all over the place here,” he said.

“This particular one was a hole leading to a complex of other tunnels, but I wouldn’t expect there to be any other mine shafts beneath the surface of that particular road.”

Nillumbik Council spokesperson Mitch Grayson said council crews were working “around the clock” to repair the road.

“Due to the complexity of the shaft, we anticipate works should be complete by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning – longer than initially thought,” he said.

“Council asks that drivers abide by temporary signage with speed limits and detours.”