Repairs announced for Wiltshire's 'wonkiest road' after Lyneham Banks landslip
Plans to repair a road in Wiltshire which was closed due to a major landslip earlier this year have been announced.
Wiltshire Council says it hopes to begin fixing the B4069 Lyneham Banks - dubbed Wiltshire's "wonkiest road" - next year.
The road, which is a key route to the M4, was shut to all vehicles and pedestrians after a landslip in February badly damaged the road's surface.
The road had fragmented after it was torn up by subsidence back in February, and has continued to deteriorate.
The council has been monitoring the ground around the landslip remotely, using drones to survey and identify ground movement as the site has been too dangerous to complete surveys on foot.
These surveys have concluded that the ground movement has stopped for now, but it could resume if there is sustained wet weather.
While the ground has remained stable during the summer, the council intends to carry out ground investigations, including boreholes, trial pits and material testing, which will be used to inform the design work for the repaired road.
This information will be used to develop the design of a replacement road, along with the measures required to reduce the risk of further damage.
It is hoped that the road design will take place during autumn, with proposals finalised by the end of the year so that construction work can begin in 2023.
The council says it anticipates that the new road would be constructed in the summer of 2023, and opened in the autumn of that year.
Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “We know how difficult this road closure is for the local community and businesses, and that’s why we’re doing all we can to get it rebuilt and reopened as soon as possible.
"However, this is a major engineering project, and we have to ensure we take all steps necessary to understand how far the land has slipped, why it has slipped, and what steps we can put in place to ensure that it doesn’t slip again once rebuilt so it can be used safely.
“We aim to complete the second phase of ground investigations in October and then complete designs for the ground stabilisation and the new road in early 2023.
"Construction is expected to begin by summer 2023, with the road reopened in the autumn.
“We apologise to anyone inconvenienced by this ongoing closure, which has been caused by circumstances beyond our control, and we look forward to the road reopening later in 2023.”
The reinstatement of the road will require earth moving operations to remove slipped material and to stabilise the ground before the road can be built.
The scheme is also likely to involve the removal or moving of large volumes of unsuitable material, the importation of fill material, extensive civil engineering works and drainage improvements.