In the morning, the municipal police discovered, during a round, an excavation place Leon-Debouverie, in downtown Amiens, reports the Courrier Picard. Between the belfry and the town hall, a hole "10 meters wide and 4 to 5 meters deep" was formed at the terrace of a brewery, explains the City in a statement.
The brewery closed during the holidays
#Amians: Formation of an excavation place Debouverie
An excavation, 10 m wide and 4 to 5 m deep, was formed on Debouverie Square facing the brasserie La Bonne Humeur.
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A security perimeter has been installed around the square and traffic is cut off in a part of the adjacent street. As a precautionary measure, the electricity, gas and water networks were cut off. If Le Courrier Picard reports a risk of collapse, France 3 Hauts-de-France indicates that it is ruled out. Only the terrace of the brewery, closed for the holidays, would be threatened. Three people were evacuated from the building above the brewery. They were welcomed in the lounges of the town hall.
Expertise is in progress
According to the first observations, the excavation was not caused by the rupture of the pipe that had been observed, but by a cavity that would have yielded. The hypothesis, however, is not confirmed by the metropolis. The risk prevention and archaeological excavation services of Amiens Métropole continue their expertise to determine the causes of the subsidence of the roadway. The analyzes are, however, disrupted by the closure, for summer holidays, of three businesses in the sector.
Under the town hall are the remains of a 15,000-seat Roman amphitheater, which was converted into a fortress in the Middle Ages.