A46 works proceeding

The road is still set to open in February.....I have visited the progress of works along the A46 and it is major works indeed - the huge piles being put in the ground are something to behold. Apparently 37 reinforced concrete piles have been bored 19-metres into the ground to halt the slippage of land along the.
60-metre stretch of road between Salmon Springs and Painswick which collapsed after July's severe flooding.

Some 700 tons of earth and rubble has been removed to halt the slippage. There has been lots of different layers of material moving over each other and the flooding helped lift the groundwater levels and the Painswick stream has been eroding and undermining the embankment. The task was made more difficult by water mains, underground BT cables and gas pipes, which had to be re-laid a few metres to the side.

In addition to the money spent on this there has also been a £3,000 advertising campaign involving billboards, radio and newspaper advertising to give Painswick a boost in the run-up to Christmas. Anyway here are some notes with additional info from Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish Chair John Rogers after his visit there before Christmas:

Note on Site Visit to Salmon Spring road works on 24 November

The road collapse was caused by a landslip which was triggered by scouring of the river bank and high water flows during the July storm. The old carriageway and quite a lot of subsoil has been remove to provide a sound footing for the piling rig to operate on. The piles are cast in holes that are bored through the sub soil into stable strata that is level with the river bed. The gas main had to be diverted to allow room for the rig to operate. There are major fibre optic cables that run along the side of the road and the pipes caring them needed to be carefully exposed to avoid accidental damage to them. Water from the excavations and site is pumped through a number of silt settlement chambers before being pumped into the drains. Foot and cycle access has been maintained around the edge of the site.

The piling work has started. It should take 4 weeks. Only one piling rig can fit on the site. There were only two piling contractors who were prepared to carry out the work due to the difficult nature of the site, the drop to the river, the close proximity of other services and the restricted access. One could not start until January the other one (who is doing the work) only has one team of operators so the rig is only being used on a 5 day a week basis. The operation is quite noise and could represent an unacceptable nuisance to the near neighbours if 24 hour operations were attempted.

Once piling has been completed a capping beam will be cast over the tops of the piles to retain the carriageway. It will take 28 days for this to cure to full strength. After this time the carriage way will be reinstated. The road should open in February.