Cornton – Our Story

Early in 2026 Scottish Water became aware of a problem in Cornton Road opposite Orchard Cottage. The road was closed on March 9th in order to facilitate repairs to a burst water main which was found to have contributed to the appearance of a large Sink Hole. There had also been damage caused to a deep manhole. The road closure was intimated to be in place for a period of eight weeks.

The repairs were “…both challenging and Technical…” said Scottish Water, “…involving a deep excavation of more than five metres.”

It was necessary to repair the water leak and then repair the sewer before repairing the manhole, filling the Sink Hole and reinstating the carriageway.

On April 9th, half way through the projected timescale, Scottish Water reported: –

The first phase of work connecting a property to the sewer network has been completed and the deep excavation backfilled to allow us to reinstate the road surface.

The next stage requires a large 30 tonne excavator to dig down over five metres to allow us to repair a defective manhole. Once the manhole has been rebuilt, we can then begin the final phase of the work, to dig out the full extent of the sinkhole before reinstating it.

This will be the most complex and challenging part of the repair given the lack of structural integrity of the road surrounding it. Safety must come first therefore every care will be taken to keep our operatives and also other critical infrastructure and utilities in the sinkhole safe.

We still anticipate completing repairs within the original estimated timescale of mid-May subject to no further issues arising

Everything is being done to mitigate disruption, and we remain extremely grateful for the patience, understanding and cooperation of the community and all those affected.

Emergency services were made aware of the full closure at the time and have planned accordingly.

And on the 21st April Scottish Water augmented the report with: –

“The situation has been complicated by the presence of a fire hydrant and six-inch water main encased in concrete within the area we need to excavate which must be moved to allow work to progress safely.

Ordinarily this would involve a planned loss of supply for approximately 1000 customers as well as Cornton Vale prison. However, our team have developed a plan to use a fleet of tankers to ensure the water supply is maintained while the work is carried out safely.

This will take place on Wednesday 22 April 2026.

The tankers will back feed the clean water supply, allowing the redundant six-inch pipe to be removed and a new pipe installed. Vehicles may need to block some driveways and residents requiring access should speak to our team on site to arrange. Everything will be done to accommodate them.

We expect the water main work to be completed on the same day allowing us to resume excavations and repairs on the damaged sewer manhole“

Repairs are expected to be completed and the road reopened by the end of May.“

On 30th April the report was updated again as follows: –

Unfortunately we have now had to revise our estimated completion date to the end of June.

The deep excavation around the damaged manhole is underway but we have encountered a number of major issues that have had to be addressed.

A redundant fire hydrant and 6” water main had to be removed from the dig area, and we have also had to carefully break out other utilities that were encased in concrete to ensure they weren’t damaged.

The deep excavation itself is far from straightforward. The presence of multiple utilities has left limited room for further digging.

Only when the damaged manhole has been repaired and the area backfilled and reinstated can we turn our attention to the sinkhole itself.

We still do not know how extensive it is and how much remedial work will be required to ensure the carriageway is not at risk from collapse and can be reopened.

We are doing everything that we can to complete the work as quickly as possible.

We are extremely grateful to the local community for their ongoing patience and support although we appreciate there will be growing frustrations.

Following a tragic incident, on 14th May, when a pedestrian was killed at the Northern level crossing Scottish Water recorded the following update: –

You may be aware of an incident which took place on the level crossing last night, involving a pedestrian, which resulted in the crossing being closed by emergency services. Our thoughts first and foremost are with the individual and their family.

A team was immediately mobilised and on site within an hour, to support the emergency services with a contingency plan for access. This, however, was not needed as general vehicular access was enabled through the re-opening of the crossing a short time later.

While the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed to us that 24/7 access has always been available through our work site as a contingency measure in the event of a level crossing closure, we have since enhanced this arrangement and our new joint plan will enable their response to be quicker and safer, and has been well received by the SFRS. The SFRS has also assessed our site and we have been liaising with the local station commander.

On-site, progress is being made: the excavation is complete with the damaged infrastructure now exposed; today works have gotten under way to rebuild the manhole; and we have been able to complete a time-sensitive repair to a defect we were previously unaware of.

We hope to be in a position next week to provide a positive update on our timeline for repair; meantime we offer our continued thank you for the patience and understanding of customers as we fully appreciated the disruption these essential works are causing.

Kind regards

Update 8th May: –

We have discovered defects on the sewer pipe within our excavation which need to be urgently repaired.

A temporary overland pumping system will be constructed today to carry flows while repairs are carried out on the existing underground sewer.

The system will only be in place when we have operatives on site and the community’s wastewater services will not be impacted. However, in order to complete these repairs as quickly as possible, we will be working overnight tonight, Friday, 8 May. Unfortunately, due to the presence of the overland pumping system, there will be increased noise on site through the night.

Scottish Water fully understands the growing frustrations due to the disruption that these works are causing and we remain extremely grateful for the patience, understanding and cooperation of the community and all those affected while our operatives work hard under difficult conditions to carry out these essential repairs.

Update 15th May

Progress is being made: the excavation is complete with the damaged infrastructure now exposed; today works have gotten under way to rebuild the manhole; and we have been able to complete a time-sensitive repair to a defect we were previously unaware of.

We hope to be in a position soon to provide a positive update on our timeline for repair; meantime we offer our continued thank you for the patience and understanding of customers as we fully appreciated the disruption these essential works are causing.

Update 28th May

Scottish water have pulled ou all of the stops and the road is now back to normal as though nothing has happened. The road was opened but with traffic light control to allow for resurfacing on Friday 22nd May. The traffic lights were removed on the evening of the 27th.

This is in line with the earliest projectioin of the time that this problem would take to resolve.