Sorry, couldn’t resist..

From : Simon (simon.kearsley@symmetry.co.uk)

I’ve been in touch with the Design Engineer at Wessex water to get an update. He’s been really helpful. Here’s where things are (his words in blue italics) !

Resurfacing works
There were some access issues when Murcott Road was being resurfaced recently. Unfortunately, this was outside of our control; however, I have been in contact with Wiltshire Council to ensure this does not happen again when the resurfacing works are completed in May. I am currently awaiting their response on how this will be managed, and I will provide a further update as soon as clarification is received

Works Update
The team has now completed approximately 170 metres of open‑cut excavation, stopping at Follyfield due to access restrictions over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Following the Bank Holiday, works will resume on Tuesday, with a 30‑metre open‑cut section progressing across Folly Field. During this time:
– Access for residents will be maintained using road plates while the junction is excavated.
– Residents will continue to use Murcott Road to access and exit the village.

Pipe delivery is scheduled for Thursday 7 May. Once delivered, the pipe will be installed within the excavated trench, followed by reinstatement works as outlined below:
Concrete reinstatement – expected to take one day
The surface will then be left over the weekend to allow curing
Tarmac reinstatement will be completed on the following Monday

Once this section has been fully reinstated and reopened, the team will continue open‑cut excavation from Follyfield, progressing approximately 100 metres towards the river.

I asked Jamie a few more questions and he gave me some additional information :

It’s likely we will work in approximately 200m sections for the majority of the phases of replacement , however as we are coming up to the river where a directional drill  is required it’s likely we will cut the next section down to 100 m to accommodate this. 

Once we have the current section that is open reinstated we will have a better idea of what kind of length we will be required. 

More to follow as soon as I know more. 

Again, we would like to thank the residents for their patience while we complete the work

I’ve also asked Elizabeth (councillor) for a contact at Wiltshire County Council so that I can ask them if they have any other plans in the pipeline. My thinking being that once the Wessex Water work moves on, if the Council decides to resurface the road to Charlton then the only access to the village would be Cloatley Road – far from ideal. I’ll pass on anything I find out.

Finally…I did some simple arithmetic and with a little help from Google maps I’ve worked out that if they’re doing the work in roughly 7 stages plus drilling under the brook then they’ll need to complete each stage in about two and a half weeks if they’re going to hit their 5 month estimate. One to watch I think !

I hope everyone finds this helpful ! Hopefully, if we all know what’s likely to happen then it all gets a little easier.