End in sight for fated mole project (From Western Telegraph)

End in sight for fated mole project

The frustrating traffic congestion in Barn Street and Perrotts Road, Haverfordwest, should soon come to an end.

The £2 million drainage scheme, which was delayed in January when a mechanical mole drilling machine went off course under the wall of Bethesda Baptist Chapel, is due to end next month. The 4 feet 6 inches diameter mole, which contractors Morrison of Neath were using to tunnel ten feet under Perrots Road to create a new flood relief culvert, headed off course when drilling towards the bottom of Barn Street and missed the deep hole where it should have ended up outside Bethesda Baptist Chapel.

The £750,000 machine was stranded underground and had to be dismantled as it could not be reversed because huge four foot diameter concrete culvert pipes were jacked in behind it. A spokesman for Welsh Water said: The tunnelling work with which the mole that got stuck was involved was to divert a stream from running through the sewers to improve the performance of the sewerage network. It was part of an overall programme of work which is due to be completed during April.