Collapse opens sinkhole on São Paulo subway's Orange Line
A sinkhole opened this Thursday (Dec. 12) at the construction site of the Orange Line of the São Paulo subway in the Bela Vista neighborhood. According to Civil Defense, the accident occurred as the southern tunnel boring machine passed through the construction area. This caused a major collapse at the future Bela Vista Station site. No victims have been reported.
According to Linha Uni Concessionaire, which manages and oversees the project, "there was a partial soil collapse within the construction site." The concessionaire added, "As a safety measure, the area around the shaft had already been isolated. There are no injuries, and the incident poses no risk to the public."
The Orange Line is expected to be completed by 2028, connecting the northern zone to the central region. Although construction was announced in 2008, work only began in 2015. However, one year later, the previous concessionaire, Move São Paulo, claimed it lacked the financial capacity and credit lines to continue the project. Construction was halted and only resumed at the end of 2020.
The Orange Line will have 15 stations. Two other collapses, also without victims, were reported during construction at four other stations in February 2022 and May of this year.
