Key route reopens after lengthy sewer repairs

MAIDENHEAD: A major road in central Maidenhead reopened at the weekend after having been partially closed for several months.

Thames Water identified a collapsed sewer on Shoppenhangers Road in Maidenhead earlier this year and emergency repair works began on Thursday, February 2.

This key route into the town centre has been fraught with problems due to sewage flooding, with at least two notable instances in November and another in mid January.

The sewer collapsed about 20 feet beneath the pavement. Planned repair works were delayed by a week at the end of January due to ‘a lack of equipment’.

Thames Water engineers installed a new sewer pipe 5.7m below the road, pumping waste water around the collapse to bypass it.

There was a sense of urgency to the works, as the sewer is situated next to 20 electricity cables, 15 of which are high voltage, as well as gas mains, water supply and telecommunications wiring.

As such, there were complications accessing the site due to the risk and danger of repairing the sewer.

Repairs were completed on Monday. During this time there was a partial road closure causing difficulties for drivers on the stretch.

The road closed to vehicles both ways between Ludlow Road and Courtlands, where Ludlow Road first meets Shoppenhangers, up to Maidenhead railway station car park.

The ‘urgent’ utility repair and maintenance works on the carriageway were set to continue potentially until May 31 at the latest, according to updates provided at the end of February.

A spokesperson said: “Whilst making the repair our teams found an additional piece of pipework in need of replacement which prolonged the length of work.

“We are sorry to residents and motorists for the disruption and can confirm the work has now been completed and the road reopened.”

This collapse was ‘a different location to any previous collapses that have occurred during the last two years,’ said then lead member for highways, Phil Haseler in January.

There have been ongoing problems with the road – it was forced to close for eight weeks in January 2020.