Work starts to repair collapsed road in Jackfield
Work has started to stabilise and ultimately repair a collapsed road in Jackfield after months of work by council engineers to design a scheme that will work.
The hole appeared in Ironbridge Road, Jackfield, on Boxing Day 2013. It was caused by workings in the underlying clay mines collapsing below the road and weakening the surrounding soils.
The nature of the collapse made designing a solution particularly difficult. The proposed solution was outlined at a drop in session in Jackfield six weeks ago.
Council engineers are now working to get the road re-opened as soon as possible. A contract has been let to McPhillips to stabilise the area around the hole.
This week McPhillips are in the process of sinking 70 plus steel tubular piles through the soft soils beneath the road to a depth of approximately 11m.
The piles will mean that the burden of the overlying road, traffic travelling on it and a substantial concrete slab designed to span over the hole will be borne by stable rock underneath.
Once the piles are installed, the concrete slab will be cast and the road then rebuilt on top. It is intended that it will be re-opened to traffic in mid August.
In the meantime, traffic will continue to be diverted through Jackfield and Coalford until the work is completed and the road re-opened.
Councillor Richard Overton, cabinet lead for land stability issues, said: “We realise that a scheme to repair the damage to the road has been a long time in coming and I realise that local people have been frustrated by that.
“I would like to thank everybody for their patience but I hope people understand that it is extremely important that the solution that is devised is both safe and sustainable.
“The council’s engineers have spend a lot of time working on a scheme which will mean the road can be used again and I am delighted that we are now at a point where work can start in earnest.”
