Update 8/12/17

Update 08/12/2017

BOREHOLE AT GRAIG Y MERCHED

Work is continuing in the Pantteg landslide area this week with a borehole being carried out by specialist geologists Earth Science Partnership (ESP).

ESP will be working on the borehole at Graig y Merched , the road which runs off Cyfyng Road in Ystalyfera , where the owners of nine homes have been issued with Emergency Prohibition Notices (EPOs) requiring them to leave for safety reasons following a series of landslips.

The latest borehole study is being done on the site of 9, Graig y Merched, which was demolished because of its dilapidated and ruinous state.

Boreholes provide site-specific information that can help determine the geology and nature of the ground in an area.

Owners of homes in Cyfyng Road and their representatives were given the preliminary results of a previous borehole study in Cyfyng Road showing conditions underground there at a meeting with council officials in Ystalyfera last month.

Tree and vegetation clearance, drainage work, LiDAR (laser assisted surveys using drones) and the sinking of trial pits as well as boreholes to assess conditions underground have all been going on since the latest landslides began in February of this year.

However, before the latest landslides, several specialist consultants have been employed to advise the council over the years regarding the landslips south west of Ystalyfera.

Earth Science Partnership have been working with the council since 2015 to implement a strategy to understand the existing geological conditions better and formulated a monitoring regime for the landslip area, comprising a series of borehole installations and other survey work.

PUBLIC MEETING

More details are available on the public meeting over the landslips issue which is being held at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera on January 29, 2018.

Doors will open to the public at the venue at 6pm and the meeting, organised by Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, will commence at 7pm.

Maps, drawings, documents and other information giving details of ground conditions in the landslip area gleaned from the intensive monitoring work which has been going on there will be made available to the public before the meeting so they can familiarise themselves with the information.

The January 29 date was arrived at as it would give time for the very latest and most comprehensive geological information to be available.