Voids appeared under the M11 at Girton and needed urgent repair

Highways England completed the repair works this week.

Unexpected voids found under the M11 at Girton have been repaired and lanes are now open to drivers.

The voids were found in September, and Highways England said there was urgent need to carry out repairs to keep the 40,000 drivers that use the motorway daily moving.

Highways England project manager Karl Brooks said: “Safety is at the heart of everything we do at Highways England, and once we realised the extent of these voids underneath the M11 we moved quickly to get it repaired.

“While we want to limit the impact that our work has on people’s journeys, these voids did need to be repaired with haste and we needed to ensure that there would be no more surprises. We have worked with our partners to minimise the impact this work has had, and are pleased that we are now able to fully re-open the M11 to traffic at Girton.”

The work to fill the voids, which were up to three meters deep in places, saw 1,200 tonnes of filling material used.

Drainage repairs, sheet piling installation and environmental works were also done to ensure there would be no recurrence of these voids.

Further work will continue on the embankment, including replacing rabbit netting and top soiling, but this will be completed off the road itself, with a hard shoulder closure and temporary 40mph speed limit the only remaining restrictions.