Salford City Council has thanked Walkden residents and motorists for their patience as engineers tackle a major repair to Newearth Road.
Highway staff noticed that the road surface had begun to sink and quickly closed off part of the road to investigate before it could collapse entirely.
But the challenge of repairing it has proved much bigger than first thought.
Councillor Derek Antrobus, assistant mayor for strategic planning for Salford City Council said: “Unfortunately this has turned into a much bigger repair than we originally envisaged. The road began to sink and we opened it up, before it collapsed, to find an old, damaged brick culvert beneath it was leaking water and washing the ground away beneath the road.
“Because of that, we have had to fully close the road and open up a nine metre stretch of the road to check the entire culvert and protect service pipes running through it from collapse. Our engineers plan to line the culvert to prevent future leaks but to do this they need access via a manhole further along the road.
“On opening up the manhole they found that, too, needs major repairs before that lining work can begin. As soon as those repairs are complete, they will be able to resume work on the culvert and then rebuild the road. Anything less than this could see it start to sink again and we do not want that to happen.
“We can’t, at this stage, confirm when the road will re-open fully – though we are making sure residents can drive to and from their homes.
“We are working through the day and at weekends to complete this as speedily as possible and would like to thank local residents for their patience and understanding as we carry out these essential repairs. Major service supplies could be at risk unless we are painstaking and patient with this work.”
