The aim was to mark the fault initially. Brussels Mobility spokesperson Inge Paemen explained that they had marked the crevasse and requested urgent intervention. However, the hole was bigger than what they might see on the surface, so repairing it would be a complex operation. Parc Royal Avenue has been closed since Wednesday due to a subsidence of the roadway that caused a deep crevasse engulfing a traffic lane, a cycle path, and part of the roadway. The cause of the collapse was a water pipe leak found by Brussels Mobility and Vivaqua. Inge Paemen stressed that an effective repair would take time to avoid a quick reappearance of the fault. The repair work is set to be completed on Thursday evening, and asphalting might start overnight from Thursday to Friday. Visitors to the Royal Greenhouses, which will open their doors on Friday, are not expected to be disrupted. However, Vivaqua is uncertain regarding the end date of the repairs, and its spokesperson Saar Vanderplaetsen said that the leak in the water pipe had not yet been located as it was not on the avenue’s collapse site. So, she might not comment yet on the repair’s completion by Friday morning. The avenue also needs to be asphalted once the pipe has been repaired.
The first objective was to mark the fault. “We marked the crevasse and requested rapid intervention. The hole, however, turns out to be larger than what is visible on the surface. Its repair is far from being a simple operation”, explains the spokesperson for Brussels Mobility, Inge Paemen. .
Part of Parc Royal Avenue has been closed since Wednesday due to a subsidence of the roadway. A deep crevasse engulfed a traffic lane, a cycle path and part of the roadway.
Brussels Mobility and Vivaqua found the cause of the collapse. “It is a leak in a water pipe. And some cables would also have been affected”, says the spokesperson, who insists on the time necessary to carry out an effective repair: “We must avoid repairing the abyss with a superficial ‘bandage’. A new fault would then appear very quickly”.
According to the Brussels Mobility spokesperson, the repair work will be completed on Thursday evening. Asphalting might start overnight from Thursday to Friday. “We expect everything to be in order by Friday morning,” she said. If this is the case, there will be no particular disruption for visitors to the Royal Greenhouses who will open their doors that day. Otherwise, a solution will have to be found for visitors.
On the Vivaqua side, we are more uncertain regarding the end date of the repairs. A team from the Brussels intermunicipal company has been tracking the leak in the water pipe since Thursday followingnoon, but “this leak has not yet been located, because it is not located at the location of the collapse of the the avenue,” said Vivaqua spokeswoman Saar Vanderplaetsen. “So I can’t yet comment on the repair of the water pipe by tomorrow morning,” she adds. And once the pipe has been repaired, the avenue will still have to be asphalted.
In conclusion, the subsidence of Parc Royal Avenue has caused inconvenience for both motorists and pedestrians. The cause of the collapse has been found and repairs have been underway since Wednesday. Brussels Mobility and Vivaqua are working hard to ensure that the repair work is carried out effectively to avoid any further faults. While Brussels Mobility is confident that the repair work will be completed by Friday morning, Vivaqua is uncertain regarding the end date of the repairs. Nevertheless, visitors to the Royal Greenhouses need not worry as the repair work should not cause any major disruptions. We hope that the repair work is completed soon and the avenue can be reopened for everyone to use safely.
