Crews restore key road after blaze in just 48 hours

Road crews in Lincolnshire took just over 48 hours to restore a stretch of the A16 that melted in a lorry fire.

The incident last Thursday at Crowland, which saw a lorry burst into flames, happened across both sides of the road within metres of a busy roundabout.

Although no one was hurt in the vehicle fire, temperatures were so high that the surface of the road melted, with torched materials from the lorry’s cargo fused into the road itself.

Lorry on fire at A16 roundabout in #Crowland. Fire crews currently in attendance ????https://t.co/0r4oorzg8N

— Kris Johnston (@spaldingkrisj) May 12, 2022

Lincolnshire County Council said that with the road closed, its emergency repair teams sprang into action, removing the ruined road surface and rebuilding the sides of the road where the damage was greatest.

An entirely new top layer of the road was laid and treated and white lines were painted.

The road was re-opened by 10pm on Sunday, which the council said was just over 48 hours.

Richard Davies, the council’s executive member for highways said: ‘What a great effort by everyone involved to get this section of damaged road up and running.

‘The damage to the road surface was so intense that smaller repairs were out of the question and a full resurface of the road was the only option we had.

‘We worked extremely hard to get this road stripped back and rebuilt as quickly as possible and the results can be seen for themselves. I want to thank everyone involved in this swift repair and I also want to thank all road users for their patience whilst we carried out the work in a very short timeframe.’