Ebrington Street, Plymouth, to reopen after emergency repair work

Emergency repair work to fill a void beneath Ebrington Street in Plymouth has been completed sooner than expected. The road will be open to traffic by Saturday 27 July.

The road has been closed since 25 June, after the void was discovered near a tunnel shaft beneath the road surface during an inspection of the sewerage network.

South West Water employed specialist contractors to investigate the extent of the void using CCTV cameras and ground radar.

Project manager Geoffrey Rogers said: “Due to the complex nature of the problem, at first we estimated that the engineering work needed to fill the void would take up to six weeks to complete.

“But by using innovative ‘keyhole surgery’ techniques we have been able to finish sooner than hoped.

“Joint working with Midas, who are developing Frobisher House, Amey and Plymouth City Council also meant we were able to get the job done quicker.

“We’d like to thank the businesses on Ebrington Street who have been extremely patient with us for the last month and all those who continued to support their local traders while the road was closed. Special thanks to the local bistro which is kindly giving the crew breakfast tomorrow to celebrate the road reopening!

“The void is now completely backfilled with concrete so there is no possibility of it opening up again. We’re just pleased we discovered it before it became a really serious safety issue.”

Repair work is expected to finish tomorrow (Friday 26 July) and the road will be reopened that evening.