Jasmine Lau can finally get to her textbooks!

Actually residents were allowed in for an hour about two days ago to retrieve a few items from their apartments. They even had a police robot come in to retrieve a pet bird called "Tweety". I couldn't believe that "Tweety" with her owners actually were interviewed on A Current Affair (ACA) on Channel 9 that night. Probably had nothing else important to report on. The bird was dehydrated for being in the flat for about 3-4 days and was fine.

What's the cost of this accident though?
1. Loss of sleep for the residents
2. Loss of 1 apartment and contents (or two?)
3. The 1000m^2 of concrete
4. More work for the tunnellers who are planning to drill through the concrete to reopen the tunnel (where it collapsed)
5. Insurance money (Not sure on how this arrangement works but in the end - insurers are out of pocket, hence loss of profits for that company > less dividends for us...
6. Loss of time for those who live in the north western and lower North Shore part of Sydney (The traffic)
7. Government image on infrastructure works (also on the heat at the moment about the Cross City Tunnel)
8. Thiess John Holland/Leighton's public image (shareholders - I think their share price went slightly down this week)

Winners:
1. The bomb squad robot who got good publicity
2. Tweety + Owners who got 5 minutes of fame on national TV
3. The concrete truck owners and concrete companies

Most Lane Cove residents go home after tunnel mishap

Residents evacuated when part of Sydney's Lane Cove Tunnel collapsed beneath their unit block have been told most of their apartments are now safe for them to return.

Forty-seven people were evacuated early on Wednesday when a section of the tunnel collapsed, threatening to undermine the unit block at Lane Cove in Sydney's north.

Concrete has been poured into the enormous hole opened up by the collapse to stabilise the building, and structural engineers today assessed its safety.

The engineers' report found units 10-21 at the rear of the building were structurally sound and safe for residents to inhabit, but further work was required on nine units in the front and middle sections of the building.

A neighbouring unit block, which was also evacuated on Wednesday, also was declared safe today.

David Saxelby, a spokesman for the Lane Cove Tunnel project, which is still under construction, today assured residents none of them would be worse off as a result of the mishap.

"We are keen to help as many residents as possible return to their normal, everyday lives and we will do everything that is within our power to make this happen," Mr Saxelby said.

"We will assist any residents who wish to move to find alternative accommodation (and) continue to pay for their accommodation until we can finalise fair and equitable compensation for all those affected."

The company behind the tunnel project, Thiess John Holland, has put the residents up in a nearby hotel since they were evacuated, and today met with them to update them on the situation.

Karen Bruce, whose unit is on the top floor directly above the hole, is one of the unlucky ones who will not be able to move home yet.

The company will continue to pay for accommodation for Ms Bruce and her family until a decision is made on the remaining nine apartments.

"(Thiess John Holland)TJH are trying to put us into self-contained units at the moment, because the front of the building is obviously not going to be habitable - our unit is teetering over the hole," Ms Bruce said.

But Ms Bruce was not sure whether she would move back into the building after the incident.

"I'm not quite sure yet, I haven't made my mind up," she said.

"I think it would be an emotional issue as well, not just a construction issue, for the people that were awoken to that."

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