Significant progress has been made by utility company Southern Water in the work to fix a suspected collapsed sewer at Appley following several months of disruption.
The works, which are already estimated to have cost over £2.5million began in January after a sinkhole developed on a popular footpath along the seafront in Ryde. In the months since the discovery, Appley has been transformed as heavy plant machinery, pumps, and pipes have all been put in place to fix the collapse.
The main sewage pipe – located 10 metres underground – delivers the entirety of Ryde’s sewage along the seafront to Appley pumping station where it is then pushed onto the Sandown Treatment Works.
Residents and holidaymakers have been unable to access the usually busy Appley car park for several months due to the closures necessary to facilitate the repairs, with nearby businesses and beach hut owners affected. Several measures have been introduced during the repair project, including deodorisers being installed to prevent bad odor in the nearby area.
Questions into the timescale of the repairs, which have now been in progress for over 4 months, had been raised by stakeholders. Island Echo visited the site in April to find out what work had been completed and get answers to some of the main concerns that had been raised.
Southern Water has revealed today (Thursday) that significant progress has been made, with significantly increased activity at the site and engineers beginning to start the final entry clearance in shaft 3 – the closest of access shafts being used to reach the sewer itself.
Island Echo has been told by Southern Water that approximately 2 weeks of demolition work will now take below the surface to remove a midway landing platform and cover slabs within the shaft which will finally give access to the blocked or collapsed sewer below.
Tim Olliffe, Infrastructure Manager at Southern Water, told Island Echo:
“We are very keen to keep customers and locals in the loop regarding the work at Appley Beach. This week people will start to see an increase in activity at the main site itself which signals the beginning of the next phase of works, and a big step forward in the repairs. This final demolition work in one of the access shafts near to the original collapse sites will see us reach the blockage in person for the first time.
“We apologise in advance for the increase in noise and want to reassure everyone that we are committed to keeping it to a minimum and we hope people will remain patient with us during this crucial next step.
“Now that we have reached this stage, we are able to increase working on site to 7-days a week which will commence on 7 June – being mindful of noise levels on weekends and during the lunchtime period. Workers will commit to quiet periods of less noisy work and we will also be disabling warning/reversing alarms on the vehicles; instead opting for banksmen onsite to ensure safe working practices.
“We hope that everyone will see we’ve worked hard to strike a fine balance between minimising impact and progressing works as quickly as possible.
“All of this is good news as it means in just a few weeks we will be in a better position to instigate repairs on the original pipe that is responsible for removing all of Ryde’s sewage and wastewater.”
Let’s hope that they can give some training to their staff in ‘how to deal with the public’. The two we encountered recently were arrogant/bordering on rude to us, and all because they had to stop sitting down in the sun to direct us through the un-signed footpath area. When we asked where the signs were, they said that there hadn’t been time to put any up, and they sauntered away smirking to themselves. It is enough to make you think who pays their wages, and whether we should stop paying water rates, if that is how we are going to be treated by them.
I had the same experience with the staff. When I said that “some signs would help” – I was told “No signs – they are a danger to the public”
Maybe a nice big explanation on the industrial fencing seen in the picture for all those visitors who have no idea what this is doing on Ryde / Appley seafront and maybe think i won’t come back. Maybe obscuring some of the less pleasing sights even. Whilst i understand it takes time and it`s cost 2.5 million, its actually much much more in reputational damage for Ryde, and Southern Water.
Blimey! All this time and they haven’t got to the root of the problem yet. Washout summer for Appley Beach. Also need to take a look at their pig ignorant and rude staff.
most of the time so far has been setting up a diversion for 27000 houses worth of sewage, and sinking shafts to be able to get at the sewer pipe to be able to repair it.
Yet when this first happened, some people were saying shove a balloon in the pipe and concrete around it, or even just fill in the sink hole and ignore it.
As for rude staff, I havnt experienced any. Then again, most of their staff are actually working on the site, not being tour guides. Perhaps the two sat in the sun were on their break. I fail to see how anyone could see a smirk as they walked away.
if we were in Japan this would have been done in 3-months they would work 24/7