A sinkhole roughly 8–10 m wide and several metres deep has opened on the AJ Burkitt Reserve sporting oval in Heidelberg, directly adjacent to the North East Link tunnel alignment in Melbourne’s northeast. Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority has confirmed the “surface hole” is in the vicinity of active tunnelling operations, leading to a work pause while engineers and emergency crews carry out geotechnical investigations and monitoring. No injuries or structural damage have been reported, but the area remains fully cordoned off pending cause determination and stability assessment.

Widespread disruption across the UK rail and road network during last week’s snow and Storm Goretti has triggered renewed demands for higher design and operational resilience to low‑temperature events. Experts are pointing to points and overhead line failures, blocked rural A‑roads and motorway closures on key corridors as evidence that current winter maintenance regimes and drainage, de‑icing and snow‑clearance standards are inadequate. For civil and geotechnical engineers, the debate centres on upgrading asset design criteria, improving slope and pavement drainage, and strengthening contingency planning for more frequent intense snowstorms.

A three-year University of Stirling study links dense Himalayan balsam stands on UK riverbanks to higher winter bank erosion rates, as the shallow-rooted annual dies back and leaves bare, unreinforced soil exposed to peak flows. Researchers tracked vegetation and bank condition along invaded and non-invaded reaches, finding greater lateral retreat and fine sediment mobilisation where balsam dominated. The work signals a need to factor invasive species management into fluvial design, scour protection detailing and river corridor maintenance to protect water quality and habitat structure.