Update issued on massive sinkhole in Swansea

The secretary of a now-demolished Swansea social club has given an update on works to repair its site where a huge sinkhole opened up, leading to multiple flooding incidents in the local area. Back in August 2023, parts of the ground collapsed outside the popular venue causing extensive damage to the club and its car park. There is a collapsed culvert some 10m below the club , a sewer, and the remains of a tramline which served the former Cwmfelin steelworks. The collapsed culvert damaged the main trunk sewer which required Welsh Water to rig up a temporary sewer system running from the grounds of the nearby Libanus Chapel site, along the pavement of Carmarthen Road and underneath the railway bridge, and then eastwards to a main sewer connection point. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here . The work to fix the problem must be completed in sections. The first phase saw the sinkhole by the side of the club filled in to allow the next phase to be carried out, which was machinery moving onto the site to knock the club down. In January contractors LG Murphy moved onto the site to carry out a 10m excavation on behalf of the club to allow it to fix the culvert. Now, in an update, Cwmfelin Club general secretary Michael Kennedy said: "Phase two of the excavation has now been completed, the culvert, tramway and broken sewer have been located and in full view. "The layout of the above is different than anticipated. We have agreed with Welsh Water that we both instruct independent surveyors to inspect the area. "Work has been paused for now until the inspections have been completed. We feel it is very important to inspect the area at this stage as the findings could prove vital at a later date. "We will resume work on phase one mid-July to construct the new manhole and the beginning of the new culvert. I think it is worth mentioning that we have financed the entire project to date. "We are in discussions with Welsh Water for them to assist with cost of phase two as we have unearthed the sewer with no cost to them. "We don't have a time scale but when we resume in July we hope to push on and make the most of the summer weather . It is really good to see the pumps have been removed and roads reopened in the area." The issue had rumbled on without much progress for more than two years and then, in September last year, some disastrous knock-on effects began to occur at the nearby Cwmbwrla roundabout and surrounding roads. The collapsed culvert caused significant problems for traffic in the local area as the roundabout was flooded with water and left impassable from any approach. It took a week to resolve, causing severe traffic problems for the Manselton, Brynhyfryd, and Cwmbwrla areas. It has flooded multiple times since, causing significant disruption and losses for nearby businesses, including an instance in November where Ribwar Wahab, who owns Reb's Razors barber shop along Approach Road, told WalesOnline his shop was left in two feet of water , damaging "everything he had". Local residents have also been badly affected including Nigel and Ian Davies, who saw their home of half a century ruined and had to be rescued at the scene by emergency services using a boat. Get Swansea news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here . We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice .