Flood-damaged A431 at Kelston likely to cost £1.5m to fix
Work to repair a flood-damaged main road between Bristol and Bath is likely to cost £1.5m, the council has said.
Part of the A431 Kelston Road was shut in February amid fears there could be a "catastrophic" or "fatal" landslip after part of the road subsided.
Bath and North East Somerset Council said the land had "only just stopped moving" which had been a pre-requisite for work to begin.
Construction is due to start next month and be complete by the end of 2014.
Specialist equipment and a "considerable volume of material" is needed to complete the "extensive repair work", a Banes spokesman said.
Before the road can be rebuilt, 4,000 tonnes of stone will be needed to construct temporary platforms to allow drilling rigs to drill 15m (49ft) deep concrete piles.
Temporary relief road
"The technical team is now looking at all the options to ensure we deliver the scheme as cheaply as possible and as quickly as possible," said Kelvin Packer, the council's highways manager.
"But we think it's likely to be in the region of about £1.5m."
Conservative councillors had backed the idea of building a temporary relief road to allow local traffic to by-pass the road closure.
But the Liberal Democrat-run authority ruled out the option, claiming it would take 16 weeks to put in place and the site of the temporary road would "in part" be needed for constructing the permanent road.
Diversions remain in place inbound via A431 to Willsbridge, A4175 towards the Hicks Gate roundabout, A4 Keynsham bypass, towards the Globe roundabout, A36 Lower Bristol Road, across Windsor Bridge Road, rejoining A431 at Newbridge Hill.