A two-week closure of part of Liverpool’s “Dock Road” begins on Monday, as two essential engineering jobs are completed at the same time.
Job 1: Cadent, which manages the North West’s gas network, needs to carry out essential repairs to the metallic main under Waterloo Road, near to its junction with Paisley Street.
Job 2: While the road is closed for the gas repairs, contractor Osborne will also work on the pedestrian and cycle routes along Waterloo Road and carry on into Regent Road to the junction with Sandhills Lane. This is part of Liverpool City Council’s £500m ‘Better Roads’ programme.
Signed diversions will take motorists via nearby Great Howard Street (A565).
Access will be maintained to all businesses/properties via gated access points at both the Waterloo road junction with Paisley Street and the Regent Road junction with Sandhills Lane. These will also be clearly signed.
A spokesman for Cadent said: “Road closures are something we try very hard to avoid, but in this case, with everyone’s safety in mind, we have no other option. We’ll be repairing a leak that – while under control and being regularly monitored – has to be investigated fully, and fixed.
“This will ensure the continued safe distribution of gas to thousands of properties in the area.
“We’ve worked with Liverpool City Council to agree the best time to do this, and that’s enabled other work – by Osborne – to happen at the same time, avoiding further disruption in the future.”
This underground pipe is one of the oldest working gas mains in Liverpool, with records showing it was installed in 1850. An impressive piece of engineering, it has lately started to show natural signs of its age (this leak, for example) and is scheduled for full replacement later this year.
Did you know? Liverpool helped pioneer the use of gas in Britain. It established a public gas supply in 1815, becoming one of the first places outside of London to do so. Today, more than 80 per cent of the city’s 206,000 homes use gas for central heating.
