ROADWORKS on a major Drumchapel street have been halted amid safety fears for engineers, the Glasgow Times can reveal.

Scottish Water has been carrying out a replacement of damaged sewer pipes and reinstating a 15inch main on Kinfauns Drive since late last year, however, work was paused last week.

Staff carrying out the works noted a “considerable volume” of water rising back into the excavation when they reached the planned depth, according to correspondence sent to councillors.

The issue meant all work had to cease immediately due to the safety risk posed to staff and were forced to backfill the area with material until an investigation into the issue can take place.

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An email to councillors said: “Our specialist contractor, Raeburn Drilling & Geotechnical, has just completed ground Investigation in and around the excavation to ascertain the source/volume of this water and to enable them to make recommendations on how we should move forward with this section of the works.”

The road, which has been closed for several months, is due to reopen in July.

However, it’s not known if the ­issue will cause a delay in the plan.

Engineers are currently working to determine how to resolve the problem and “what, if any, impact” it will have on the timeline of ­repairs.

A Scottish Water spokeswoman said: “As part of a £2.5 million project to improve the sewer network in Kinfauns Drive, we have commenced construction of a large ­excavation outside the West Centre.

“This will enable us to install a tunnel under Kinfauns Drive to ­replace the existing damaged ­sewer pipes.

“During these works, we experienced considerable volume of water rising up into the excavation which was unexpected.

“To ensure the safety of our operations team, we halted the works and took remedial action to backfill material into the excavation while this was investigated.”

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She added: “These additional ground investigations are to ascertain if we have uncovered a layer of permeable rock, situated between two harder zones, which soaks up groundwater.

“These ground conditions are unknown until they are identified and none of the historic records or our previous investigations indicated this would be the case at this ­location.

“Prior to this, Scottish Water had already agreed to support the community’s efforts to fund their community Christmas Tree, to thank them for their patience and understanding, during what has been very challenging works.

“We are investing heavily to upgrade these sewers to improve the quality of our service to customers and, while this can cause disruption due to the nature of the work required, we look to minimise this wherever possible.