A LARGE limestone cavern and a cave were detected under the construction site of the 2011 Universiade’s main venue in Longgang District, the Daily Sunshine reported Thursday.
The limestone cavern, measuring roughly 100 cubic meters, was found 1.2 meters under the eastern side of the main stadium, the report said.
“The cavern is the largest that we have detected so far since the construction of the Shenzhen Universiade project in Longgang started in mid 2007,” said an unnamed geologist working on the project.
He said a number of limestone caves, large and small, had been found under the venue since last year, when work on Universiade project began. Longgang District has a large number of limestone caves underground, the report cited the geologist as saying. “It (the geological condition in the area) is very complicated, and is likely to cause constructions to collapse if any prevention and safety procedures are skipped or compromised,” he said.
Underground water was also found in the lower part of the cavern, the report said. The existence of underground water makes building more complicated, according to the geologist, adding that caves are usually formed because of water erosion.
Another cave, estimated to be larger than the limestone cavern on the east side, was found under the center of the planned venue. The cave is believed to measure several hundred cubic meters.
The discoveries have attracted the attention of government officials and the contractor of the construction project. Senior geologists from around China have been hired to study the area. Detailed countermeasures have been outlined to guarantee the safety of the project, said an engineer with the municipal construction agency.
(Wei Jie)