A35 to remain closed 'until further notice' due to sink hole

A 17-mile diversion is currently in place.

A pothole opened up on the A35 westbound, towards Dorchester, on Monday.

After receiving reports of the surface defect, crews from Highways England attempted two fixes of the hole on Monday and Tuesday, both of which were unsuccessful.

On Tuesday afternoon, a sink hole opened up, forcing police to close the road between the A354 and B3150.

A sink hole opened up on the A35

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Yesterday, a geotechnical team from Highways England were out assessing the sink hole to determine what caused it.

The road will remain closed while investigations continue and a permanent repair has been carried out.

And the road is to remain closed for some time: In an update shared by Dorset Council's Highways team this afternoon, the authority stated that investigations are still underway, and that it is too early to say when the problem might be resolved.

The A35 westbound remains closed following a sinkhole opening in the carriageway on Tuesday at Troy Town.🕳️

Ground investigations are still ongoing into the particular cause and to understand the extent of the failure.

It is still too early to give timescales for road reopening pic.twitter.com/50gE32D3Ba

— Travel Dorset (@TravelDorset) May 13, 2021

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Stephen Potts, service manager for Highways England, said: "We are carrying out geotechnical investigations into the cause of the surface defect on the westbound carriageway section of the Tolpuddle bypass.

"The road will remain closed until further notice. We apologise for the inconvenience and advise motorists to plan ahead and allow a little extra time for their journeys."

A 17-mile diversion has been put in place while investigations proceed and repairs are carried out. Drivers heading westbound on the A35 are being diverted via Bere Regis Roundabout on the A31, south to Wool, before taking the A352 back to the A35, following the solid triangle diversion.

17-mile diversion route in place on A35 Picture: Travel Dorset

One motorist, who drove over the pothole on Tuesday morning, said: "I was driving down the A35 towards Dorchester on my way to work when I went over the pothole.

"I was quite surprised as I drive that route most days and hadn't gone over it before. As soon as I hit it I thought that could do some serious damage to a vehicle as the pothole was quite big, although I didn't expect it to become a sink hole.

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"When I drove the same route yesterday morning, there were signs warning of a diversion and cones for about a mile before cars were siphoned off the A35.

"There were maintenance vans and police cars on the scene. I hope the road is fixed as quickly as possible - traffic was slow around the diversion route and it added a lot of time to my journey."