PATRICK CONNORS
Geotechnical engineers are currently assessing the damage done by what appears to be a sinkhole, that has closed campgrounds at Inskip Point near Fraser Island.
The damage area is currently about 200 metres long, 50 metres wide and up to 9 metres deep in diameter. Engineers in the area are currently using ground penetrating radar to assess the full extent of the damage.
Geotechnical engineer Alison Golsby said a series of tests will be conducted over the following days to check the area’s overall stability.
“This area has a history where sinkholes occur regularly – the ideal answer is … to monitor because then we keep everybody in the right place and they won’t be put in a position like that,” Ms. Golsby said in regards to Inskip Point.
Ms. Golsby also said scientific reports indicate the entire peninsula could eventually fall away sometime in the near future. “People have said that at some stage they think Inskip Point may not be there,” “The ideal answer is (it’s) great to monitor because then we keep everybody in the right place and they won’t be put in a position like that.”
Despite nobody being injured, more than 300 holidaymakers were forced to leave the area on Saturday, following the loss of several tents, a caravan, camping trailer and a car. While no one was reported missing, the RACQ CareFlight helicopter was forced to rescue a 24-year-old man after he nearly drowned in the surf on Sunday. Despite the damage done to the peninsula, six campgrounds are set to remain open in the meantime.