The news that the grout shaft in South Molton Lane will need to be sealed off until the start of 2015 was delivered in the latest information sheet released by the Crossrail project team.
It was already known that the construction of the shafts would take around six months, but due to 'the potential for ground movement', engineers will require constant access to the shafts throughout the excavation of the tunnels and station platforms so that they can pump in grout to compensate for any destabilising.
After the main excavations are complete, Crossrail's contractors will only consider removing the surface worksites once the ground has fully settled over the next 12 months. Only then will full access to the roads around Grays be reinstated.
The hoardings of the worksite went up just over two weeks ago, but so far the signs for the antiques centre have yet to be given fixed positions as the contractors have been moving the wire-mesh fences around the location.
