Sinkhole causes major traffic disruption in Bucks village
A wooden drainage tunnel caused major traffic disruption on the A413 in Little Missenden last week, forcing the road to close.
Buckinghamshire Council advised drivers to avoid the area after a hole appeared. Following an investigation, a previously unrecorded tunnel was discovered beneath the carriageway.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Councillor Thomas Broom, Cabinet Member for Transport, said the structure likely pre-dated the road itself.
Cllr Broom said: “We heard the dreaded word sinkhole a little over a week ago on a section of the A413, where a hole appeared at the side of the road on Tuesday night.
“And after further investigation we found what appeared to be a very old, probably pre-dating the construction of the road, drainage tunnel, a wooden drainage tunnel.
“That went directly across the road about two and half meters down, this resulted in a road closure, which caused significant disruption.”
He paid tribute to the highways teams who worked to find the tunnel and repair the road to re-open.
He said: “Our highways team who managed to take us from discovery of a completely, unrecorded, unregistered, very serious problem. To having the road completely reinstated, open and safe in less than a week and very pleased that we managed to turn that around as quickly as we did.
“It goes to show the importance of reporting issues on the highway, that small crack that you see may be something far more serious than you realise.”