Sewage leak in Ramsgate

As some of you will probably remember I have been expressing concern about the safety of the Marina Esplanade incline viaduct arches for some time. My main concern is that there is no weight limit on this fragile Victorian structure that is in a poor state of repair.

Click here to view the pictures that graphically illustrate what I mean.

Earlier today I was talking to one of the property owners down there who said that when we have heavy rain the manhole cover, in the picture above, which is under one of the arches is blown off by the pressure and a mixture of water and sewage is spread over the area.

He also told me that when he had a survey done the professional surveyor said he thought that there should be a weight limit of no more than seven or eight tonnes on the incline road.

I think my greatest concern here is that as there is obviously a problem with the drain that runs under the arches, any leakage may be undercutting the arches foundations.

During the Second World War maintenance wasn’t carried out on the Victorian arches on the Westcliffe in Ramsgate click here to see what happened when two of them collapsed in 1947.

I have tried alerting several members of the council to this problem, the only answer I have had is that it is safe for busses and any weight of heavy goods vehicle, you only have to look at the pictures to see that it isn’t, does anyone have any idea what to next, before there is an accident?

Even the part of the road surface above is sinking so it is very obvious that the chalk infill is on the move, to me the whole thing is a stupid justification for removing our seafront car park to make way for a huge roundabout for busses and large goods vehicles to turn.
The fact that this roundabout and the associated roadworks were done in a high flood risk area without a flood risk assessment and that their construction is of lose cobbles and paving stones laid on sand doesn’t make me any happier either.