That is the largest of four holes being dug in the road. They jackhammered the road one day and dug a big hole and lined it with concrete and then dug some more. And on the other side of the campus a giant trench is being dug either to or from the lake. Apparently some kind of sewerage system is being created.
Until now, and probably for some little time to come, the considerable quantities of, um, processed food generated by the collections of dormitories on three adjacent campuses had been, well--collected in poo ponds, basically, and washed out into the once beauteous lake our school resides upon. Soon however it is to be collected in giant tarpaulin-covered bus traps. Beware unwary traveller, Hunan people have a fairly basic sense of humour.