Scottish Water fixes burst pipe on Orchard Road, Forres for the second time this year
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
PART of a busy local road was sectioned off for a week due to a burst pipe for the second time this year.
Forres Community Council member, John Innes, reported the issue at the Sanquhar Road end of Orchard Road to Scottish Water on the evening of Tuesday, April 4 - the utility operator sectioned off and dug up the area leaking on the following morning.
A Scottish Water spokesperson explained: “An investigation confirmed that no customer supplies were affected and that the water was draining to a road gully. A repair was carried out and the water network returned to normal operation on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 5.”
Unfortunately the excavation could not be filled in at the same time.
The spokesman added: “The contractors that carry out this work for us are constrained by the opening hours of tar plants, which are often not available over public holidays as there isn’t sufficient demand across the wider construction sector. The team left barriers and signage in place to keep road users safe and get the reinstatement/repair of the excavation organised as soon as possible.”
Work on a similar leak that started on January 10 lasted until January 17 when the road was finally fully repaired. This time the road was fully re-opened on Wednesday, April 12.
Mr Innes lives on nearby South Street next to Thomson Garages.
He said: “We had to move all our cars again while they dug it up. Our water pressure was down. Thank goodness the schools were off so there wasn’t so much traffic. The condition of the pipes and drains around here is poor and the volume of traffic large. Orchard Road is a main artery through the town so a seven-day turnaround isn’t really acceptable. The upheaval is bound to have upset nearby businesses.”
