Latest news on the Belgrave Road landslip shared by Isle of Wight council press office, in their own words. Ed
The Isle of Wight have been continuing to undertake daily site inspections (twice daily during the two named storms) and monitoring of the wall movement and cracking both at the top of the terrace and the middle and lower sections.
Wire netting held wall collapse in place
The heavy rainfall during the storms has resulted in the top section of the wall moving further downwards, with falling material coming to rest on the lower terrace.
However, the wire netting has worked effectively and contained the materials within the site.
No movement or deterioration was observed in the middle wall and no additional cracking or deterioration was observed in the lower wall above Esplanade Road.
No signs road is in any danger of collapsing
The current movement notwithstanding, we are keen to reassure residents that, contrary to some media reports, there are no signs that the road itself is substantially in any danger of collapsing.
While the wall continues to move, it remains unsafe and impractical for us to intervene until we can be certain the situation has stabilised further. However, we are continuing to look at what steps we might be able to take as soon as it becomes safe for us to do so.
Site being topographically monitored
A topographical survey of the site area was carried out last week which will assist us in this process.
This, together with the installation and initial survey of monitoring equipment, will enable us to undertake more detailed monitoring of the site and allow us to see when it has stabilised sufficiently for us to carry out a more thorough investigation on site.
Work can’t pose risk to others
We understand that residents will be keen for this situation to the rectified and the road reopened as soon as possible, but we must wait until we can be satisfied that any work on site will not pose a safety risk either to residents or to our workforce or affect the stability of the area.
