Was it a manhole?
The sex of the hole that was blown is still undetermined. Apparently something in the hole blew up and that caused the sidewalk to raise 12"....or so they say. I bet it was closer to 4".
To be politically correct and non-gender specific, it is a 'human resources hole.' They wanted to call them 'person holes,' but someone in gummint didn't think the label was long enough.