It was Sunday morning when a drinking water pipe suddenly broke on Klopstockstrasse, very close to the Altona town hall, and washed the street under. 200 households were now without water. While most of them were able to be reconnected to the mains on Sunday evening, a temporary solution is still being worked on for house number 2.
However, the work on the road itself will take much longer, as Hamburg Wasser announced on Monday afternoon after thorough investigations. The underwashing due to the burst water pipe in Hamburg-Altona is so massive that the road has to remain closed for about two weeks. “Investigations have confirmed that the roadway has been undermined over an area of a good nine by twelve meters. In the affected area, the asphalt is now being completely removed and the subsoil is being compacted,” the utility company said.
New asphalt will then be applied. The company has planned a construction period of a good two weeks. In addition, the house connection lines in the crossing area are to be renewed as part of the repair work. This work should continue into September. However, a full lockdown is no longer necessary for this.
In the next two weeks, drivers should plan more time for the area around Klopstockstraße. As a spokesman for the traffic control center said, traffic on the surrounding streets had already come to a halt on Monday due to the complete closure of Klopstockstrasse. At the same time, however, there were significantly fewer impairments than initially expected. “According to the first pictures, it’s relatively quiet, there’s surprisingly little going on around it.” Many drivers were probably well prepared for the closure.
Klopstockstraße is a busy street for all drivers from the West who are heading towards Elbchaussee. It had to be completely closed on Sunday morning at the Palmaille junction because the road was undermined by the escaping water. The affected drinking water pipe was immediately taken off the grid. The cause of the burst water pipe was initially unclear.
