<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/melbourne" rel="" target="_blank" title="Melbourne"><span>Melbourne</span></a><span> sinkhole that opened up near a major tunnelling project poses "serious questions", an expert says.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The collapsed turf was seen at AJ Burkitt Oval in Heidelberg on Monday afternoon, drawing a crowd of onlookers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA) chief executive Duncan Elliott said yesterday two tunnel boring machines digging underground as part of the North East Link were located metres from the site.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/teenager-stabbed-at-sydney-house-party-fighting-for-life/95673c24-61fd-416f-ae15-f1ec4eb7d131" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Teenager stabbed at house party left fighting for life</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Engineer and former president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association Arnold Dix told Today he would bet that the project and the sinkhole were linked.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"A sinkhole on the surface also means that there's possibility of difficulties underground, so we've got to think of our people underground and their safety and of course, the safety of people up on the surface," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"So something's gone wrong. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/melbourne-sinkhole-tunnelling-expert-says-poses-serious-risk/294f606b-1d9b-4c10-8958-8945580ff2ff" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"And some serious questions have to be answered about how it's gone wrong, why it's gone wrong, to make sure it doesn't happen again."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/less-than-1-per-cent-of-epstein-files-released-says-us-justice-department/6354ec08-68d5-4f56-abc0-117e59967053" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Less than 1 per cent of Jeffrey Epstein files released</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said that such a sinkhole posed a "serious risk", noting that the oval appeared to have been recently mowed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If I was mowing that oval and it had collapsed and I went in, that's really serious risk," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You could be you could be seriously injured or killed if you fell into it."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But he said the oval would be safe to use again once the issue had been identified and corrected.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It could be a change in the movement or the ground level of water underneath," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It could be that they've had more material go into their tunnel boring machine than they were expecting. There's a whole range of reasons for it."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-celebrates-kidnapping-nicola-maduro/f507b1bd-f86b-4519-95d0-be14119cc886" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>'A lot of people were killed': Trump boasts about Maduro operation</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, he said, the fact that the sinkhole had not yet expanded - though he noted that was a possibility - and the fact that nobody had yet been injured, meant it was the sinkhole he'd like to see in his backyard, if he had to have one.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is the cute and cuddly sort, this one," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Let's keep it that way."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A North East Link spokesperson yesterday told 9news.com.au they were aware of the sinkhole "in the vicinity" of the tunnelling operation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The area has been secured and crews are closely monitoring the site and surrounding areas - and we strongly advise people to avoid the area while investigations into the cause are underway," they said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"No injuries have been reported and there is no immediate threat to the community or residential properties."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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