Major Road Closed after Water Main Burst in Portsmouth

A major road has been closed and mass clean up operation is taking place after a 20 inch water main burst flooding  a street in Portsmouth.  The man-made river gushed down the street this morning after  the major water main burst just after midnight. Police and Portsmouth Council workers rushed to London Road  near  to the junction of Stubbington Avenue and Gladys Avenue  Portsmouth in the early hours of Thursday morning after they where alerted to leak by a local resident. [photoshelter-gallery g_id=”G0000nkDU6sJX_zg” g_name=”London-Road-FLood” width=”800″ f_fullscreen=”t” bgtrans=”t” pho_credit=”iptc” twoup=”f” f_bbar=”t” f_bbarbig=”f” fsvis=”f” f_show_caption=”t” crop=”f” f_enable_embed_btn=”t” f_htmllinks=”t” f_l=”t” f_send_to_friend_btn=”f” f_show_slidenum=”t” f_topbar=”f” f_show_watermark=”t” img_title=”casc” linkdest=”c” trans=”xfade” target=”_self” tbs=”5000″ f_link=”t” f_smooth=”f” f_mtrx=”t” f_ap=”t” f_up=”f” height=”400″ btype=”old” bcolor=”#CCC” ] The woman called the council after she mistook the flooded street as  heavy  down pour. Portsmouth Water turned off the water soon after the pipe burst but not before it managed to flood the street, They  have now set about working on the break and to  fix it as soon as possible. The burst has raised the tarmac in the road as well as covering it in water  and with a mixing  of silt and mud The burst has also caused significant damage to the  both side of the road and the footpaths near to the junction. Portsmouth  Water officials  have confirmed the flood water did  not contain sewage and has  been removed down local  storm drains. A hard road closure has been put in place as a mass clean up  and repair operation takes place. The Road is closed to all vehicle as well as local buses and could be  for many days. Driver are being asked to plan ahead and  give  themselves  extra time whilst the emergency repairs are carried out by Portsmouth Water.   https://youtu.be/lex1ZX0Ya18 It is hoped that works to repair the main will start at first light. Portsmouth City Council Highway Inspectors from Colas are hoping to install  a traffic light system to at least have single lane  of traffic running through the area.  It is hoped that this will be put in place ready for the weekend. Water engineers have isolated the section of damaged piping and supplies to the properties in and around the area have not been  affected.  Massive grab lorries have been brought in to clean the mud and remaining silt from the effected area.