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Langham Parish Council |
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Recreation Ground |
General Purpose |
Housing |
Community Council |
Ward Councillor |
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Langham Potholes, Drainage and Roadside Maintenance
Langham Lane - Men at Work
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Potholes, Drains and Vegetation Reports
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Monday 10 March 2014
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The work to restore a working drainage system in Langham Lane begins with repairing the damage done to the one field that already has a well-maintained ditch .. but one that had been blocked by the lorry full of shingle. This lorry was stationary, waiting for another wide vehicle to pass, when it simply tilted over as the road and verge collapse beneath it. |
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Thursday 13 March 2014 |
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Drains were then properly cut out to allow flow into and Runkin's Corner. The right-hand photo shows just how hazardous the corner is to anyone who overshoots~! |
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The opening up of the drains towards Langham encounter rather large trees growing in the way ....
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Saturday 15 March 2014
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The digger moved up Langham Lane, working to the full limits of it size. Large quantities of silt are removed, together with decaying vegetation ... and a deer corpse!
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A picture of concentration!
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Monday 17 March 2014
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The pothole men arrive. They have many large pieces of road to cut out and fill. There are more than those illustrated on Langham Lane as only the most notable were picked out. Orange markings are the guide and there are many alongside the road verges, where HGV's passing each other run out of room. On the right the crew have a moment to spare waiting for more supplies.
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Tuesday 18 March 2014
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The work has progressed up Langham Lane, with only the occasional oak sticking out from the middle of the ditch! |
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Meanwhile the heavy gang have arrived, complete with a gulper. The pipe underneath the bridleway has been cleared, so now the drain runs beneath and not over it! |
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The good works have left behind a wide verge, now covered with mud, but this fertile soil will soon mellow. The wood waste was removed the following morning.
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The boys are going home!
Now the other lorry, against a threatening sky!
Both give a cheery wave! |
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20 March 2014
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Waiting for the tarmac, left and our newly-cleared ditch, centre and right. I do love the way the stream bends around the invading oak in the middle!
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21 March 2014
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The last job before the men go off to Mersea. The potholes going up the road towards Langham Lane have been especially worrying, but now they are all done! I thanked the men for a job well done.
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Just as we were all about to go our separate ways, the source of our woes appeared ... HGV's squeezing past each other on Langham Lane, damaging the road with their weight and the verges when they go off piste! |
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.... and finally. The chasm in Cage Lane, Boxted. Just beyond hundred Lane, the fine weather has allowed the 'Beast of Boxted' to appear fully. My glove is about 8" long! |
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With remarkable speed the open ditch has been filled with a large plastic land drain, ballast applied and the infill commenced. Cement-filled sandbags secure both ends of the culvert. The pipe looked a little high, but I was informed the road was to be built up, perhaps by even a foot, to eliminate the dangerous camber. |
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The fini9shed section of road, now metalled with up to 12" of tarmac to level the camber, and with a low soil bank marking the field. The ditch has been piped, with sandbagged entrances, as has the culvert under Runkin's Corner, right. |
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The last job - to repair a drain access point damaged earlier in the winter. |
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