Hogg Lane open by the end of June

Investigations into what led to the two-metre wide sinkhole opening in the middle of Hogg Lane have been completed and Thurrock Council is confident that – if no further issues are discovered – the road will reopen by the end of June. A specialist foam concrete company will be on site to fill the 50ft deep hole and part of the tunnel beneath it next week. It will be filled to just below the normal road foundation level and once this is done and the embankment stabilised the council will check along the line of the tunnel to ensure there are no other voids which might lead to further collapses. This cannot be done until the embankments are fully secured. After this the utilities will have to carry out inspections and do any necessary repairs - and then the road will be reconstructed. The western end of the tunnel is not accessible at ground level (there is a considerable amount of fallen chalk blocking the way and more work needs to be done to fill that part of the tunnel from above. This will be done after the initial filling operation and when any other voids found by the investigation are filled. If no more significant voids are discovered, the council is confident at least one lane of Hogg Lane will be reopened by the end of June.