Gas utility lands itself in a hole lot of trouble

03 August 2007

A large hole discovered below one of Swansea’s busiest roads has been blamed on gas utilities work carried out in the area.

Council highway officers discovered the hole along Fabian Way, which is one of the main arteries leading into the city from the M4. They believe the highway could have collapsed at any time, and ‘brought chaos to motorists’. Emergency works have started to stabilise the hole and prevent collapse of the road surface above it. One of the lanes has been closed on the in-bound carriageway.

Carl Humphrey, head of highways in Swansea Council, said: ‘We’ve had a long-standing drainage problem on Fabian Way which we decided to investigate while the Sidings Bridge was being completed.

‘Our inspection uncovered a serious problem caused by some works by one of the utility providers. These works have caused a sinkhole to develop which, if left untreated, could lead to the carriageway above collapsing. ‘We’re lucky to have found it when we did.’ The council is now in talks with the utilities company to solve the problem as quickly as it can, and hopes to have the road fully reopened later this week.

‘These works are likely to cause delays and disruption to traffic coming into Swansea,’ Humphrey added.

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Gas utility lands itself in a hole lot of trouble

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