Part of a road beside the Luas light rail system being constructed in Dublin city centre caved in yesterday. However, the Rail Procurement Agency denied the collapse, which has led to the closure of Harcourt Street, was connected with the building of the line.
At around 1 p.m. a bus travelling down Harcourt Street stopped when it came to a hole that had opened up.
Workers who were constructing the line had earlier noticed a three-inch hole. A steel plate was placed over this and it was decided to leave the road open to traffic.
However, when the bus was unable to negotiate the hole, which had widened to an estimated 18 inches across, the decision was made to close the street.
Mr Ger Hannon, director of corporate services with the Rail Procurement Agency, said the fault was caused by previous work carried out on the basement of a house on Harcourt Street. He said it was unlikely the construction of Luas line B, which is being done on the eastern side of the street, would have caused the collapse.