Second sinkhole on Queens Road, Newark, is being investigated

Highways say a further collapse of the carriageway has happened on Queens Road, Newark, and it will be subject to ongoing investigation and repairs.

A sinkole is said to have appeared as a Range Rover passed over the spot, which is virtually in the same place as the previous one, that caused the road to be closed for months.

A Nottinghamshire County Council spokesman said: “A further collapse of the carriageway occurred on Queens Road, Newark, yesterday morning, closing the road. This is subject to further investigation and repairs.

“We expect the section of Queens Road between Northgate and Lover’s Lane to remain closed at this moment in time.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the closure, but our primary focus is the safety of residents and road users.

“Further updates will follow. ”

Queens Road had only been re-opened for four days when a new sinkhole appeared.

Businesses local to Queens Road and road-users were incredibly frustrated by the amount of time it took to resolve the issue which began in April, and are destined to be frustrated again – all ahead of another planned four-week closure in the autumn.

It is one of Newark’s busiest junctions.

An urgent temporary road closure was granted for works to begin at 11.30am yesterday.

Via East Midlands is again carrying out the work.

As usual, the alternative route is Northgate, Lincoln Road, Northern Road, Beacon Hill Road, Sleaford Road, Queens Road and vice-versa.

Via East Midlands had carried out the works alongside Severn Trent after an investigation into the original sinkhole revealed the cause to be a Victorian brick-built culvert collapsing beneath the road.

Three separate repairs were carried out in order to make the culvert safe, while the road has remained closed to traffic and it had been believed that they were done satisfactorily.

Nottinghamshire County Council, who have responsibility for maintaining the county’s roads, said that while undertaking these emergency repairs, it became apparent that the culvert was in very poor condition and that more extensive works will be required to prevent further collapses in the future.

Designers are now currently working on a solution and the council anticipate the another round of planned repair works will take place on the site by early autumn.

During this time it will be necessary to close the road yet again while the work is carried out, with the closure expected to last for three to four weeks.

Once these final repairs have been made, the council say part of Queens Road and Kings Road will be resurfaced.