In the early morning of the 11th local time this month, a thrilling scene occurred in the downtown area of Kita District, Osaka, Japan:A giant steel underground pipe suddenly broke through the ground, with an upright height of 18 meters, pointing directly at the viaduct above. The scene was shocking, but fortunately no casualties were caused..
The incident took place on Shin-Midosuji Road near Osaka Station. It is located in the core area of Umeda business district. It is a prosperous traffic thoroughfare in Osaka with a huge daily flow of people and vehicles.
According to eyewitness accounts,There was a loud noise when the incident occurred. A thick black steel pipe suddenly rose from the ground and stood upright in the middle of the road. The road was cracked and a large amount of asphalt road debris was scattered. The top of the steel pipe was only a few meters away from the viaduct, almost causing a collision..
The Osaka City Construction Bureau rushed to the scene to investigate as soon as possible and initially determined that the main cause of the accident was the buoyancy of groundwater.
The area has abundant groundwater reserves. The pipeline was in the construction stage at the time of the incident. It was hollow inside and light in weight. When the upward pressure of the groundwater exceeded the weight of the pipeline and the binding force of the surrounding soil, the giant pipe was pushed out of the ground like a "cork."
Officials said that this situation was the first time in local engineering history. After the incident,Staff from the fire department and the Construction Bureau quickly took emergency measures, injecting water into the pipeline to increase its own weight, offset the buoyancy of groundwater, and push the pipeline to slowly sink..
At present, the Osaka City Construction Bureau has publicly apologized for this incident, and a detailed investigation is still underway.
