Landslip road is to remain closed until next year
A DERBYSHIRE road severely damaged by a landslip is expected to remain closed until next year.
Lea Road, between Cromford and Lea Bridge in the Peak District, has been shut since January 2020, when a 45-metre section started to crumble away and slide into a nearby riverbank following sustained heavy rainfall.
Work to repair the road was pushed back, but specialist contractors started work earlier this year in February.
But the contractors have since encountered further challenges, which have led Derbyshire County Council to put the estimated reopening date back to spring or summer 2022.
A spokesperson for the council said: “Following on from unusually heavy rain over a weekend in early May, the contractors found that the landslip was still moving and that a sewer running under the road was leaking.
“Repairs were made to the sewer and drainage was installed.
“Just as work was starting on the piling, engineering challenges made it impossible to progress.
“Piles are large concrete poles drilled deep into the ground which will then hold up the road surface.
“In essence the land is still moving, which is making this a very difficult technical operation.
“At the moment the contractors are closely monitoring the site before work starts again. They estimate that the earliest the road could reopen would be spring or summer 2022.
“We’d like to apologise to all those who are inconvenienced by this road closure. We had hoped that the road would be open by now.”