Repairs completed on collapsed road in Jackfield
Work to stabilise and repair a collapsed road in Jackfield has been completed two weeks early after months of work by council engineers to design an appropriate scheme.
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.
Council engineers have been working with contractors McPhillips to stabilise the area around the hole by sinking 70 plus steel tubular piles through the soft soils beneath the road to a depth of approximately 11 metres.
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. The road has been rebuilt on top of the concrete slab and will be re-opened to traffic this weekend.
Councillor Richard Overton, cabinet lead for land stability issues, said: “This has been a complex project because of the nature of the collapse of the road.
“I would like to thank everybody for their patience while the road has been closed. It was important that the repair we devised was both safe and sustainable and I would like to thank the council engineers and the contractor for getting it completed ahead of schedule.”
