Barnham sinkhole repairs are complete
Emergency repairs to a sinkhole in Barnham have been completed.
Barnham Road is now back open.
The latest update, from West Sussex Highways, was shared at 3.20pm on Friday (July 25).
This read: “Southern Water have completed all repairs to the sinkhole on Barnham Road and the road will be reopening shortly.”
Barnham and Eastergate Parish Council confirmed on Friday evening that the road ‘reopened earlier today’.
The emergency closure on Barnham Road came into force on Monday, July 13, to enable Southern Water to carry out urgent repairs to the sinkhole.
While the emergency traffic regulation order permitted the closure to remain in place for up to 21 days, the county council had previously said it anticipated the work could be completed by Friday, July 17, subject to progress on site.
The closure, however, continued for an additional seven days.
Southern Water engineers had excavated the site to a depth of 1.2 metres, and were preparing to install specialist shoring equipment – before digging deeper to reach the damaged pipe beneath the carriageway.
West Sussex County Council said: "The road closure is required for the safety of the public and workforce while Southern Water undertakes emergency road closure required to facilitate the urgent repair of a sinkhole in the carriageway."
The restriction remained in place 24 hours a day, with a signed diversion route available. Access was maintained for emergency services, residents and pedestrians within the closed area.
The repairs were the latest in a series of sewer-related incidents in the village. Earlier this month, Yapton Road reopened after Southern Water completed repairs to a separate sinkhole, having previously confirmed it was dealing with two sewer-related collapses in Barnham.
From Bexhill to Bognor Regis, Sussex has been hit by a spate of sinkholes since the beginning of 2026.
The incidents, which have occurred from the east to the west of the county, have caused dozens of road closures and traffic delays as councils have tried to repair each sinkhole as quickly as possible.
We asked an expert from the University of Brighton what could be behind the recent incidents. Martin Smith is a Professor of Geochemistry, as well as a geologist and mineralogist, and is the Associate Dean for Research and Enterpise in the School of Applied Sciences.