Wembley High Road sewer works to be completed by end of the week. Discussions taking place with those responsible for the concrete blockage.

Residents and businesses around Wembley High Road as well as drivers and public transport users will be relieved to hear that relief is at hand! A spokesperson for Thames Water told me today:

 Our work on Wembley High Road is due to be finished by the end of this week. We’ve traced the source of the concrete and are discussing the matter with the third party who were responsible.

Thames were not prepared to name the third party.

Confusion over end date for Wembley High Road sewer works

 Street signs say that the sewer works in Wembley High Road will continue until January 31st 2018 but this is what Brent Council posted on its website yesterday with a completion date of January 5th LINK:

The sewer works on High Road, Wembley, are progressing well and the proposed end date for these works is now 5 January 2018.

To date Thames Water have:

• Removed the traffic island
• Excavated a shaft onto the sewer over seven meters deep
• Tunnelled four meters downstream, towards Park Lane, to a point where there is no concrete in the sewer
• Tunnelled upstream, towards Wembley triangle, eight and a half meters to the lateral connection from the former Brent House site and have tunnelled over fourteen meters to a point where all concrete has been removed.
• Sink another shaft on the sewer
• Replaced the sewer

Next steps:

• Backfill the tunnels

• Backfill the shaft

• Permanent reinstatement of carriageway.

  
   Note: From the top of the 83 bus today (Thursday) it did look as if the backfill works have been completed. I have asked Thames Water for clarification.
  

Wembley High Road works to continue until mid-Janaury

Brent Council has confirmed that Thames Water has been given a second extension to complete their main sewer works in Wembley High Road. The new completion date is mind-January 2018.

Responding to a query about the replacement of the mature trees removed as a result of the works, the Council said that they would be replaced in Wembley Central ward but not in the High Road as there was no suitable site there.

Double Whammy Wembley Works

With road works now taking place outside Wembley Central station as well as on Wembley High Road outside the Brent House building site, residents are getting increasingly frustrated as tailbacks develop. Things were not looking great for this evening with wet roads, two sets of works and Spurs playing Brighton!

Brent Council has responded to a resident by setting out the latest position regarding the works:

The works near Wembley Central Station are been undertaken by UK Power Networks (UKPN), these works are urgent because there has been an intermittent power failure which has affected up to seventy five shops along the High Road.

Originally, the footway opposite Wembley Central Station was closed and two new temporary pedestrian crossings were placed either side of the excavation so that pedestrians could safely navigate their way around the closed footway. Unfortunately, pedestrians were not using this facility, instead, pedestrians were walking in live traffic lanes which is clearly unacceptable. The only safe option was provide a safe pedestrian walkway in the carriageway and control traffic with two way temporary signals, the carriageway at this location was not considered wide enough to accommodate two way traffic and a pedestrian walkway.

I have been to site this morning and we have instructed UKPN to back fill and open the footway and open the carriageway to normal two way traffic, this should be in place for the evening rush hour.

There is still a fault on the cable and UKPN will need to undertake more works at this location, where possible these works will be planned to occur in non-traffic sensitive times only.

I can assure you that all planned works have been postponed until after the sewer works are complete but emergency works cannot be postponed.

Thames still investigating who blocked the main sewer on Wembley High Road

A Thames Water spokesman said today regarding the sewer works on Wembley High Road:

The removal of the concrete in the sewer is more complicated than first thought, and we’ve had to extend our finish date to allow us to remove it entirely. We’re still investigating the cause of the blockage and who poured it down there, and we’ll be taking further action once we know who it is.

The spokesman confirmed that Thames have extended their permit for the sewer works on the High Road until December 22nd.

Brent Council confirm Dec 22nd extension for Wembley High Road works

Brent Council have confirmed that the Thames Water sewer works on Wembley High Road will be extended up to December 22nd. Certainly the works, which were due to be finished at the end of this week, look nowhere near completion. I understand that the concrete blockage extends further eastwards than first thought and clearing it will require further excavation.

Business on the affected closed road seeking compensation from Thames Water should follow this LINK

The final bill for the works and compensation could run into hundreds of thousands and despite their denials, Henley Homes, who are developing the  Brent House site adjacent to the sewer works, are still being suggested by locals as the most likely blockage culprit. Watch this space!

Progress report on Wembley High Road sewer works

A Thames Water spokesperson responding to my  request regarding progress on the Wembley
High Road sewer works and their investigation into the source of the concrete blockage,  today told me:

We are now halfway through clearing the blockage, and have replaced five metres of pipe which has been damaged. We expect that the rest of the blockage will take two more weeks to clear.

We are still investigating the source of the blockage and have not identified who it might be,  and will let you know when we have any details.

Concrete sewer blockage not our fault say Henley Homes

Contrary to what an informant working at the Wembley High Road site told a Wembley resident LINK Henley Homes gave me the following statement today:

As you are aware Thames Water are currently investigating the source of the concrete in the sewer and will advise in due course.

We can confirm, following our investigations, that Henley are not responsible for the alleged blockage of the main drains near the previous Brent House office building on Wembley High Road.

Henley Homes are the developer of the former Brent House site.

Avoid Wembley during November! Deep excavation works will close High Road east bound and have severe impact on wider area

Hot on the heels of my story about concrete blocking the main sewer in Wembley High Road LINK  comes a warning about major works resulting from the blockage circulated by Rubie Charalambous, Wembley and Ealing Road Town Centre Manager.

Click on image to enlarge

URGENT WORKS -High Road, Wembley - Blocked Sewer - Eastbound Road Closure 2/11/17 to 30/11/17

The Sewer on High Road, Wembley is blocked near the junction of Ecclestone Place and unfortunately deep excavation works are required to rectify the problem. 

High Road, Wembley will be closed to eastbound traffic from the junction of Park Lane. Traffic will be diverted via Park Lane and Wembley Hill Road, a signed diversion will be in place for the duration of the works.

Westbound traffic will continue to use High Road, Wembley as normal.

The impact to the road network in the Wembley area is expected to be severe, especially in peak times. Where possible please avoid the area.

Unfortunately this period coincides with a number of events at Wembley Stadium although Spur's Real Madrid fixture at 90,000 capacity just squeezes in the day before the works start:
 

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Wednesday  1/11/2017     19.45  Tottenham Hotspur v Real Madrid (UEFA Group Stage)

Sunday         05/11/2017   12:00 Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace

Friday           10/11/2017   20.00  England v Germany (Friendly)

Tuesday        14/11/2017   20.00  England v Brazil (Friendly)

Saturday        25/11/2017   15:00 Tottenham Hotspur v West Bromwich Albion

Concrete blocking Wembley High Road's main sewer will add to residents' woes

Wembley Central residents, already suffering from  dust and air pollution as a result of building works in the High Road are now faced with works on the main sewer that runs beneath the busy road.

Thames Water confirmed today that there is concrete in the sewer ands they are having to use tankers to pump out the sewage which would normally flow through the blocked pipe.

A spokesperson for Thames Water said, 'We are investigating the source of the concrete and hope to start work to remove if from the sewer next week. Sadly this is an all too common problem that we face.'

The works are likely to cause more chaos with Wembley Stadium having a full programme of events over the next few weeks.