Culvert Collapse

(NB: latest updates are at the top)

Update: Tuesday 27th February

Teams have remained on site working hard to repair the collapsed culvert and they've made substantial progress.

Pumps are still being used to take stream water across the road, but a section of culvert has now been replaced and a new, plastic pipe installed. This sits at the base of a new, purpose built headwall - made from old greenhouse lintels - which will collect the water from the three streams that feed the culvert. We've also made changes to where the water was pooling before, meaning it should no longer be standing water, but now have a constant throughput of water.

Larger inlets have been installed at the side of the road, which will also go into the culvert, and together these measures should help reduce the flooding which was becoming an issue in the road.

Next the teams are putting a more permanent surface around the top of the lintels, which will make ongoing maintenance easier, and preparing a screening solution for the pipe - currently there is a temporary one in place which won't stop it getting blocked in the longer term.

This has been a challenging project for the teams and the sheer volume of rain which fell in recent days made a difficult task even harder. But, that hasn't stopped their progress.

Operations Manager Jon Holt said:

"This has been a challenging piece of work and teams have worked hard to create a solution in a short space of time. We are working hard to get the road reopened as soon as possible, and hopefully this redesign will also mitigate other flooding issues in the area."

Update: 21st February

Teams have been onsite ever since Friday morning - including throughout the weekend - working hard to repair the culvert and re-open the road.

It is no easy fix.

So here's what's been happening: to allow teams to work, a small dam had to be built at the base of the stream feeding the culvert, to give a dry space to get workers in. That water is being pumped over the road and into the stream on the far side. A second stream has been intercepted further up the road and also pumped away from where the work is taking place.

The culvert is approximately six feet underground, and the ditch teams are working in is even deeper than that. They had to dig down to that depth to assess the problem and start working on a solution.

New pipes are going to be installed where the culvert was, as it is beyond repair.

Work to do this is ongoing. We do not have a definitive date for when it will be completed, but please rest assured it remains our number one priority, with substantial resources diverted to ensure it is as soon as possible.

Operations manager Jon Holt said:

"Teams have been working to engineer what is an extensive repair to the culvert inlet. This has been made more difficult due to having to manage the significant flow in the streams which flow into the culvert. The teams are working hard to enable the road to be re-opened as quickly as possible."

The area is also an important biodiversity zone, and we will be working with the right agencies to restore it.

Friday 16th February

Last night a culvert outside the Little Chapel collapsed causing a hole roughly one metre wide to form in the road.

Firstly, we want to thank Guernsey Police and States Works for their quick actions in closing the road and putting in place diversions.

We know more road closures are far from ideal, but there is simply no choice - the road is far too dangerous to leave open.

Guernsey Water teams - including people who were on leave - attended earlier this morning and have been on site throughout the day assessing the situation and forming a plan on how to swiftly and safely fix the culvert, fill the hole and reopen the road.

Right now we don't have a timeframe on this, but this is our number one priority and resources are being refocused to minimise how long it is going to take.

Guernsey Water Operations Manager Jon Holt said:

"Upon being notified, we sent Guernsey Water teams and liaised with local contractors to begin investigations as to what caused the hole in the road. Over the course of the day it became clear it was a culvert which had collapsed. Teams will be working throughout the weekend in order to get the road reopened as soon as possible. We are sorry for the inconvenience this is going to cause, but please be assured we are doing what we can to fix this as soon as possible."

Culvert Collapse

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