Blackstock Road closed after pipe 'explodes', flooding street

 
Flooded street: The scene yesterday on Blackstock Road
The scene in Blackstock Road showing the results of a burst water main. Internet web grab from The Islington Gazette (Original pics from https://twitter.com/MPSBrownswood) published in the Islington Gazette. Posted by Police Officer Richard Berns, NO P
David Churchill13 February 2014

A busy London shopping street was left under water when a 100-year-old pipe carrying overflow from upstream reservoirs “exploded” underground.

Engineers today warned Blackstock Road in Finsbury Park is likely to be closed to traffic for up to five days while the damage is repaired.

It is thought the incident was triggered by heavy rainfall causing pressure to build up in the Victorian pipe which carries water from reservoirs.

Businesses and residents today told of their shock as Tarmac and mud were left strewn over the street at about 10am yesterday and experts issued warnings the road was in danger of collapsing.

Michael Heaver, 24, said: “I was on my way to work and I thought the floods had now reached London.”

Blackstock Road flooding: in pictures

1/8

Ismail Kurt, 19, who works at nearby Arsenal Cafe, said: “The road just exploded and water was everywhere. Luckily the road is sloped so it was all running one way but it was completely submerged.

“It started slowly with the water creeping up in about two or three places with drivers just going round it, and then it just exploded. It was pretty bad. If the road is shut for that long it’s going to affect business.”

Michael Taiwo, 47, a security guard at City and Islington College, said: “TfL and the police turned up but they couldn’t turn off the water for a good few hours.

“The pressure from underneath just grew and grew and then the road just burst up.”

The road was closed to traffic in both directions and could be shut for up to five days. The 10in pipe burst outside City and Islington College where a void had opened up under the road. Thames Water turned off the pipe’s supply at about 1pm.

A workman at the site, who wished not to be named, said: “The heavy rainfall means the ground shifts around but this pipe is carrying water from a reservoir, which have become full with pressure increasing on the pipes in a lot of places. A lot of these pipes are 100 years old so it’s going to happen in places. A huge void was created underneath the road which doesn’t help.”

Sgt Richard Berns, who posted photographs of the flooding on Twitter, warned: “The road is flooded and may collapse.”

A Thames Water spokesman said: “A 10-inch water pipe has burst on Blackstock Road, causing substantial damage to the carriageway. Engineers are on site repairing the pipe and will be working to get the road re-opened as soon as possible.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in