Water hole-y mess

South London Press

News

Water hole-y mess

Sep 5 2003
By Chris Pragnell

A MASSIVE water leak under one of the city's main roads caused traffic mayhem and prompted fears more could follow.

Kennington Lane - a major stretch of the A3 into central London - was shut off completely for more than 24 hours as engineers battled to stem the flow.

Thames Water said the leak had sprung from an 80-metre rupture running the length of a 12 inch diameter mains pipe.

"It's an exceptional leak," said a spokesman.

"It could be caused by a number of things.

"The weather is often a factor because changing temperatures cause the ground to move."

Police were notified just before 4.30 on Wednesday morning that water was seeping up into the road outside Kennington Tube station.

The spot is just a few hundred yards from the notoriously busy Elephant and Castle roundabouts.

By 9am, engineers had managed to shut off the water system and could begin to properly excavate the pipe.

A 200m stretch of Kennington Lane was completely blocked off to traffic.

One engineer said at the scene: "It could have something to do with the temperatures cooling down again.

"If it's down to the recent weather, we could well have problems else-where."

But both Thames Water and Transport for London(TfL), which is responsible for the road, were keen to play down risks of further leaks. "It's impossible to predict what may happen," said the Thames spokesman.

"The pipe was cast iron, and not necessarily that old. They can burst I'm afraid. But there's no need to worry about things that have not happened."

He added that homes in the Kennington area had not been affected by the leak.

"I would apologise to all the drivers who were affected by the road closure," he said.

[ Previous | Next ]