Some city bound lanes have been reopened on a key Sydney road after a large section of the Pacific Highway exit ramp collapsed, creating a huge hole and causing units to be evacuated.
But commuters can expect long delays after an apartment block in Lane Cove, in Sydney's north, was evacuated when a section of the Pacific Highway southbound exit ramp in Lane Cove collapsed.
The fire brigade measured the hole as six metres wide and between eight to 10 metres deep, and growing.
It is believed the section of Epping Road collapsed after a water main burst, though engineers are now investigating to determine the cause.
One resident told ABC Radio he could see through the hole down to the Lane Cove tunnel and others described large cracks in the unit block.
NSW Police Superintendent Doreen Cruickshank said the building could collapse.
"There is a reality that the building will collapse, I think we can see from here that there is structural damage," she told reporters.
"But that will assessed during the morning."
Resident Neil Smith said the hole went all the way to construction on the tunnel.
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"There's a massive, great big hole in the middle of the pavement that goes all the way down to the tunnel - can't see an end to it," Mr Smith told ABC Radio.
"Police arrived and basically evacuated the building.
"It looks like the whole place is going to come down.
"There's massive cracks in all the walls."
"A couple of girls in the lower apartment basically grabbed their books and ran."
Carlos, who lives also in the unit block, said the appearance of the hole was a big shock.
"One of my neighbours said the building is shaking, there is a hole in the ground, look out your balcony," he told Macquarie Radio.
A statement from the Lane Cove Tunnel operators said workers were evacuated after a "rock slippage" in one of the tunnels.
The relationship between the tunnel and the hole is not clear, a spokeswoman said.
Engineers and geotechnical experts would assess the hole today.
Some of the road was reopened for a while but then all city-bound lanes were closed when new fault lines were spotted, ABC Radio reported.
Some 60 residents from the evacuated block were believed to have been put up in a nearby hotel.
If you have no fear, you're not going fast enough. Never argue with an idiot. He'll drag you down to his level, then beat you with experience.
