‘SIGNIFICANT’ damage caused by an explosion from a burst water main on one of the main routes in and out of Barnsley town centre will be repaired as soon as possible, engineers have confirmed.
Yorkshire Water workers have been on Dodworth Road’s gyratory since Saturday when residents reported a large bang as the pressure built up underground and broke the road surface.
A large hole quickly opened up at about 8am on Saturday, with tarmac ripped up by the blast and a large volume of water gushing along the route.
Given the amount which escaped from the 14-inch water main, M1-bound motorists were unable to access the stretch.
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: “We have been dealing with a large burst on a 14-inch water main on Dodworth Road over the weekend.
“Our teams conducted a repair quickly over the weekend.
“Unfortunately, the burst caused significant damage to the carriageway and footpaths and these will need to be repaired and reinstated before the road can fully reopen.
“We will be filling the excavation and meeting on site with the council’s highways team to assess the extent of the damage and finalise plans for repair and reinstatement.
“We will update on timescales for repair as soon as we can.
“We apologise again for the disruption and appreciate everyone’s patience.”
Hundreds of homes around the area lost their water supply but this was reinstated about seven hours after the eruption, Yorkshire Water confirmed.
The incident occurred just days after the supplier announced its intention to spend millions across the county to reduce leakages.
Karen Atkinson, manager of leakage reduction at Yorkshire Water, added: “Reducing the number of leaks in our clean water network is really important to us, and to our customers, as we work towards a future with a secure water supply.
“We’re on track to meet our target of reducing leakage by 15 per cent between 2020 and 2025, but we’re already looking beyond that, and want to reduce it by a further 12 per cent by 2030.
“While we have lots of proactive work to do to help us meet our targets and conserve water, customers can also play an important role in water conservation - reporting leaks that they spot in their areas is incredibly valuable to us.
“I’d encourage anyone who spots something that looks like a leak to reach out to us so that we can investigate and resolve it quickly.
“Customers can also save water in their homes and gardens with simple changes like taking a quick shower instead of a bath, using a watering can instead of a hose, and using a washing up bowl rather than loading the dishwasher.”
