The Street in Aldham suffers delays as reopening pushed back

Works to repair The Street in Aldham, near Hadleigh, have been ongoing since the middle of September after the road first gave way in November last year. 

It had been hoped that the road could reopen by the week ending October 25, subject to excavation works being carried out by Anglian Water to access a water main in need of repair.

However, these have been delayed due to heavy rain, pushing back the completion date to the week ending November 1.

The road first collapsed in November 2023 (Image: Jenni Green) A spokesperson for Suffolk Highways said: "Unfortunately, Anglian Water have advised, that due to heavy rain and the complexities this has presented during their deep excavation works, the completion of the water main repairs are now anticipated to be completed today (Friday October 18).

"The impact of this is that Suffolk Highways has not been able to progress work on site as soon as hoped and will now commence the installation of the remaining sheet piles required for the road support structure week commencing Monday October 21.

"Our programme has therefore been revised to reflect a new completion date of the week ending November 1, 2024."

The road was first shut on November 20, 2023, after it collapsed. 

Complex investigations have been ongoing since then, with highways bosses believing the final cost of the work will total "six figures". 

"It's six figures," said councillor Paul West, Suffolk County Council cabinet member for operational highways and flooding. "Just thinking about how much things cost.

"When I understood that I thought 'that's a lot', but when you work out what things cost these days you can quite easily get into six figures when you start looking at the work that needs to be done to make things safe."