New delay to repair sinkhole

WORKS to repair a sinkhole in a road in Caversham have been delayed again.

It has been 11 months since a burst pipe caused the road to collapse.

Thames Water has announced the ground stabilisation works to enable the re-opening of Kidmore Road will continue through to February.

It announced in October that contractors had identified a “secondary ground feature” which needed repair and would further delay the re-opening of the road, which was due to take place in October.

The road has remained closed since the sinkhole appeared in January, which followed reports of water leaks in the road.

Engineers attended the scene and excavated a 1m hole to access the broken pipe. The sinkhole measured 2m by 4m.

Contractors for Thames Water started a 15-week programme of remedial works for the hole in July.

The work was initially scheduled for May but was held up by delays in receiving information from geotechnical engineers.

Bus services and traffic have been on diversion route.