‘Not an easy fix’: Investigations continue after sinkhole causes Lincolnshire road closure

The next part of a sewer investigation will take place next week as the county council begins preparing a plan for the road repair after a sinkhole appeared in Holbeach.

A small section of Boston Road South, between Tesco and Holbeach, cracked open in March this year and left a hole in the road surface. However, this is not a new problem as the issue of sinkholes appearing on that road seems to have been frustrating residents in recent years.

It prompted an urgent investigation from Lincolnshire County Council to find out the cause of the sinkhole and forced a temporary closure of the road. A full road closure across that section of road remains in place.

The county council has now completed its series of investigations in respect of surface water drainage systems and has begun preparing a plan for the road repair and reinstatement. An assessment is being carried out to ensure the correct works programme is used for the repair of the route

Anglian Water is continuing to investigate the main sub-sewer which runs the length of Boston Road South and part of that enquiry includes all property sewage accesses into this main line. The further part of the sewer investigation will take place from May 9 to 16.

Several stages of works from Highways are then planned to be actioned on completion of Anglian Water’s investigation.

The first is to excavate the problematic area of carriageway on Boston Road South. This will then be investigated to find out what has happened under the surface in relation to what caused the sink hole.

Works will then begin to make repairs of the road. This will be based on what is found under the surface during the investigation, so dates for these works will be released at a later date.

Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “The issues on Boston Road South have already, and are continuing to, present us and our partner at Anglian Water with a unique set of issues.

“It is vital that we understand completely what happened to this road so that, once the investigation into the sewer and sewer access is completed, we can employ the right methods to ensure the best solution is found.

“It’s not an easy fix and I appreciate that this is taking time to progress to the rebuild of this area of road, which is both regrettable and unavoidable in this case. But we are doing all we can to get this sorted.

“I want to express our profound thanks to all concerned for their continuing patience with this matter. We are working as quickly and as diligently as possible to get to the right solution for the residents and businesses in the area and we appreciate everyone’s understanding whilst we continue these works.”