How long do you think it would have taken this sort of road damage to be fixed in Sierra Leone

The giant sinkhole

An enormous sinkhole on a busy road in the Japanese city of Fukuoka has been filled in 48 hours and the road reopened after a week.

How long does it take to fill a sinkhole? And why do the Japanese put us to shame with their efficiency? Sierra Leoneans are familiar with potholes and bad roads, and the long time it takes to fix them. Over in Japan though, it has taken them only two days to repair a road that was swallowed up by a 100ft wide sinkhole.

Filling a sinkhole is “not rocket science”, according to Tony Bracegirdle, a geotechnical engineer for Geotechnical Consulting Group, who is this week travelling to Ripon to help sort out the problem. “The engineering challenge is to get enough concrete into the hole as quickly as possible and that’s not very challenging at all.” I know some of you might be thinking that am hallucinating. Is it bad to dream? We are here talking about austerity and bad governance.

 The same stretch of street in Fukuoka resurfaced a week later. Photograph: AP