The engineer in charge of filling the 40ft deep sinkhole in Wales has revealed the giant scale of the task.
The Merthyr Tydfil sinkhole saw thirty homes evacuated from a quiet Nant Morlais residential street at the beginning of December.
Two large new sinkholes have struck the village of Godstone in Surrey, forcing residents to flee their homes.
Devastating weather during Storm Bert saw a sinkhole engulf parts of the Welsh town’s road and a pavement, as well as the driveway of Love Island star Liam Reardon’s home.
Contractors were on the scene within days to fill the pit and make it safe again for families to return.
Paul Edwards, managing director at Edwards Diving Services (EDS) which is running the operation, told Metro 12,000 tones of stone was used to fill the hole.
The stone, equivalent to 12,000,000kg, was sourced from a local quarry and is not even the permanent solution for the road.
Edwards said: ‘We have put in a temporary stone fill in to fill the void. We have used 12,000 tonnes of stone – that is a lot of stone.’
The sinkhole was caused by a collapse of the culvert – a pipe carrying water.
The work, which started before Christmas, revolves around fixing the culvert before then refilling the void again.
Paul added: ‘We will have to dig the stones out.
‘We have to strengthen the culvert, we are spraying that with concrete as we speak.
‘Then we will drive the piles through the stones. Once the piles are driven and we have a structure we can build up, we will dig the stones up and put the full design in.’
The process is weather dependent, but Paul predicts it will take a couple of months to complete.
All the residents are now safely back in their houses and coping well with the disruption, he confirmed.
‘It is a bit of a building site, but they are managing it really well. They are just happy to be back in their homes,’ he said.
A permanent solution for Merthyr Tydfil’s sinkhole is being found just as two new sinkholes have opened up in Godstone, Surrey.
The first of the two Surrey sinkholes continued to grow, before now stabilising, and forced a high street to close and the local council to declare a major incident.
Authorities say the sinkhole is no longer getting bigger and investigations are continuing to determine the cause.
Leader of Tandridge District Council, Councillor Catherine Sayer, said: ‘We know this is a really difficult time for those residents who have had to leave their homes and for local businesses which have been impacted.
‘We thank them for their patience and cooperation, as we work to resolve this situation as swiftly and safely as possible.’
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