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Mysterious Ripped-Up Road In Wiltshire

maximus otter

maximus otter

Recovering policeman
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The B4069 near Lyneham, Wilts has been severely damaged by as-yet unexplained forces. The section of the road has been so badly damaged that the tarmac is completely snapped or lying a 45-degree angle in some places.

Wiltshire Council say the road has been closed since February 17th, but some drivers still are still attempting to use it according to police.

The 'earthquake-like damage seems to have come from unexplained movements underground that will now be investigated.

Local residents claim the subsidence has been getting worse over the last year and a landslip was inevitable.

Wiltshire Council said it is now waiting for a report from geotechnical specialists before taking further action.

Dr Mark McClelland, Wiltshire Council cabinet member for transport, told BBC Radio Wiltshire: "It could costs hundreds of thousands or up into the millions [to fix].

"There is significant damage to the road. It could be up to 12 months in total. It's not something that can be resolved in a matter of days or weeks."

Dr McClelland added in some places the road had 'buckled' up to four feet, and descriptions of it looking like an earthquake were accurate.

https://twnews.co.uk/uk-news/pictured-a-mysterious-ripped-up-road-in-wiltshire

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:
The B4069 near Lyneham, Wilts has been severely damaged by as-yet unexplained forces. The section of the road has been so badly damaged that the tarmac is completely snapped or lying a 45-degree angle in some places.

Wiltshire Council say the road has been closed since February 17th, but some drivers still are still attempting to use it according to police.

The 'earthquake-like damage seems to have come from unexplained movements underground that will now be investigated.

Local residents claim the subsidence has been getting worse over the last year and a landslip was inevitable.

Wiltshire Council said it is now waiting for a report from geotechnical specialists before taking further action.

Dr Mark McClelland, Wiltshire Council cabinet member for transport, told BBC Radio Wiltshire: "It could costs hundreds of thousands or up into the millions [to fix].

"There is significant damage to the road. It could be up to 12 months in total. It's not something that can be resolved in a matter of days or weeks."

Dr McClelland added in some places the road had 'buckled' up to four feet, and descriptions of it looking like an earthquake were accurate.

https://twnews.co.uk/uk-news/pictured-a-mysterious-ripped-up-road-in-wiltshire

maximus otter
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This adds some more insight:

Geotechnical specialist Clive Edmonds told NCE that images of the damage - which show the road surface "heaved and then falling away in level" - suggest that "mass movement of the slope has been triggered probably by locally increased pore water pressure build-up in the slope profile leading to renewed landslide activity".

He added: "This sort of movement would account for the highly irregular switch-back look along the road alignment and cracking of the surface.”

Edmonds explained that the road “coincides geologically with an area where the Jurassic age Stanford Formation (limestone) appears to overlie/overstep the Hazelbury Bryan Formation (sandstone)”. Both of these are underlain by the Oxford Clay Formation.

"The road appears to run along and down the contact between the sandstone and limestone above the clay stratum going downhill away from Lyneham," he said.

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/la...iltshire-road-buckled-and-cracked-24-02-2022/
 
Ive been down, (and up) that hill a lot.

The Geologist is right; prone to slips due to iffy geology and water.

Its been that way for decades...but, I think, never as bad.

No Mystery.

Wiltshire is not a mysterious county, otherwise I would have blogged on it.
 
Kondoru said:
Wiltshire is not a mysterious county, otherwise I would have blogged on it.
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Actually, I find Wiltshire very mysterious, absolutely overflowing with ancient archaeology, megaliths, folklore, and general weirdness. One of my favourite counties to hike in (well it would be, if it weren't for the appalling state of the off-the-beaten-track footpaths).
 
IbisNibs said:
This sounds like all of Britain if you ask me! :hahazebs:
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True enough, but not much in the way of megaliths in Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire... :( On the other hand, even Woking has its weird, so I'm sure that Swindon does too...
 
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I've always thought of Wiltshire as being a rather 'fey' sort of place too. North Yorkshire, now has absolutely no fey about it at all. We've got haunted York and Dracula's Whitby and that's about your lot.
 
I grew up in wiltshire and there are areas that are generally a bit "off", hard to explain but the landscape at times seemed sentient. I currently live on the edge of the Mendips- lovely place lots of "quaint and charming" scenery etc but not so much sense of place. However definitely , much higher sense of weirdness, but seems to be connected to people. In my head this paragraph makes sense.
 
Eyespy said:
I grew up in wiltshire and there are areas that are generally a bit "off", hard to explain but the landscape at times seemed sentient. I currently live on the edge of the Mendips- lovely place lots of "quaint and charming" scenery etc but not so much sense of place. However definitely , much higher sense of weirdness, but seems to be connected to people. In my head this paragraph makes sense.
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Never been there so I wouldn't know if this is the same thing I'm thinking of, but some places sure do have an innate personality that seems to be wholly independent from the human presence there. Just.. a mood, but one that is a lot deeper and more uncaring than human-related vibes?
 
Parts pop Wiltshire- especially around salisbury plain do have a sense of indifference to humans which is rather hard to explain but you know when you feel it.

Whilst chunks of the Mendips are just odd, superficially pretty and charming but slightly off. They filmed "Hot Fuzz' around here and at one point we were "twinned with Atlantis" on several road signs as well as being home to Glastonbury and Wookey.
 
The photo seems to have vanished, so here’s one pinched from the Intermuppet:

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maximus otter
 
Spookdaddy said:
Although generally less dramatic, it reminds me of some sections of the Broken Road beside Mam Tor in Derbyshire. I think similar forces may have been involved, although much greater in the case of Mam Tor.

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Seeing that takes me back. I remember back in the early eighties when I went on a trip to Blue John Cavern and Speedwell Cavern with primary school that the road over Man Tor was still open. Then going again later (possible the same year, but I can't be 100%) with Cubs and the coach having to go all the way around as the road was pretty much impassable.
 
I recently drove along a road near Leighton Buzzard which was beginning to go.
Leighton Road, which if you go to the streetview you can see has had multiple repairs to its sides - it was splitting along its length as though it was being pulled apart by the fields on either side.
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