A POTENTIALLY dangerous situation was averted at Stockton Heath when a traffic management officer noticed a hole in the road open up as a car passed over it.
The road was immediately closed as a safety precaution – and it was subsequently discovered that a sewer beneath London Road had collapsed.
Stockton Heath councillor Laurence Murphy, who was at the scene last night, said: “It is alarming just how suddenly these dangerous, deep holes can appear.
“It was fortunate the highways dep;artment were in the area, carrying out the resurfacing work on London Road. It is reassuring that the council were able to act quickly to make the area safe and start the essential 
repairs.”
Evening work on road resurfacing has been in progress in Stockton Heath for some weeks, with road closures coming into force after the peak traffic periods.
Contractors were setting up for last night’s work when a traffic management officer spotted the hole suddenly open up outside the Red Lion pub.
The road was closed slightly early so it could be investigated.
While at the surface, the hole appeared to be only about 500mm in diameter, it could clearly be seen that below the surface it was much larger.
Cllr Murphy said: “As there is a sewer line running past this hole from West Avenue to an inspection chamber in the middle of London Road, I contacted United Utilities who were able to send an engineering team out by 9.20pm.
“They confirmed it was a sewer collapse and were able to mobilise a vactor unit to clear the upstream surcharge caused by the blockage and a camera unit to identify the extent of the collapse, while the road closures were in place last night.
“Tarmac were able to get one of their on-call teams to bring stone from their yard in Warrington to temporarily make it safe.
“Tarmac were able to lay two mats of surfacing last night past this hole, and the area around the hole has been barriered off.
“Although there are narrow lanes past it, the road is open to traffic, although a right turn ban has had to be put in place for traffic turning from London Road southbound into West Avenue. A local diversion to The Forge car park has been set up, and traffic can still turn left into West Avenue from London Road northbound.”
United Utilities have mobilised resources to dig down on the collapse today and make the necessary repairs, and it is anticipated they will have these completed for the surfacing works tonight.
Cllr Murphy added: “The police were informed of the issues last night, and as there is a bus stop close to the hole Network Warrington were also informed.
“United Utilities, Tarmac Trading Ltd and Warrington Borough Council have worked well together to solve the issues arising from this incident.”
The hole - close-up
Sewer collapses as car passes over it
33 Comments
3 Comments
This is the second time in recent years a hole has appeared on a London Road in the village – may be worth checking the whole stretch for other possible weak spots
I agree. This one’s only small (well for now anyway) but the other that happened up near the London Bridge pub was HUGE. Makes you wonder just what we are all driving over every day. Knowing my luck I’ll be the one to fall down one ha ha.
Quote from the above article:-
“United Utilities, Tarmac Trading Ltd and Warrington Borough Council have worked well together to solve the issues arising from this incident.”
If United Utilities and Warrington Borough Council had been “working well together” would this incident have happened in the first place?
They should have maps/details of the sewers etc. under London road and know what condition they are in.
If they were ‘on the ball’ the first gaping hole near the London Bridge pub wouldn’t have happened and certainly there shouldn’t have been a repeat.
In recent times I’ve noticed an increasing number of very heavy vehicles driving through Stockton Heath and even over the Bridgewater canal bridge. Can London road and the canal bridge really cope with the great weight of these vehicles? Which by the way are often stationary at the traffic lights – exactly where this hole has appeared! Is there a weight limit on the Bridge? are there any warning road signs? because I’ve never noticed any. Are we going to have to a really serious ‘incident’ before the powers that be address the issues?