Major delays on the A256 Sandwich Bypass by Discovery Park are expected to continue as Southern Water carries out work on a second sewer pipe..
On site repairs, aided by some 27 tankers to control the sewer flow, began in December after a pipe burst.
The road was shut between the roundabout near Co Part to the Monks Way roundabout (Dover bound) causing congestion. This closure is still in place,
Peter Stakim, Southern Water’s Incident Manager, said: “We’d like to apologise to users of the A256 near Sandwich who are likely to continue to face major delays. Please allow plenty of extra time for journeys.
“The Southbound carriage way will remain closed between the roundabouts either side of Discovery Park and a diversion is in place along Monk’s Way and through Discovery Park.
“While we repaired a burst in one sewer main before Christmas, fixing another pipe will be a major operation. The pipe runs under the raised section of the A256 near Discovery Park.
“The road’s special construction and the ground beneath it pose special engineering challenges and risk. We have to carry out a detailed technical survey, beginning next week, to ensure our work will not harm the structure of the road when reinstatement is complete.
“This work has been given top priority and our engineers and specialist consultants worked right through the holidays.
“It’s a complex piece of work and we’ll know more about definite timescales once we’ve completed geotechnical surveys over the coming days.”
Southern Water issued updates via social media over Christmas. More details can be found at www.southernwater.co.uk/a256-sewer-repairs
Diversion – Take the exit to Ramsgate Road and follow round on to Monks Way up to the roundabout.
More than £30 million has been spent on renovating Thanet’s sewers in the last five years,
