Lava has crossed the Grindavíkur road
Glowing hot lava comes splattering out of the fissure that opened today. mbl.is/Kristinn Magnússon
Lava has crossed the Grindavíkur road. This is what Jón Haukur Steingrímsson, a geoengineer at Efla Engineering, says to mbl.is.
According to him, the lava flows across the road south of Mt Þorbjörn.
“We have men at every turn and closing holes in the defense walls. Then we have to see how well they will hold,” he says.
He adds that ten machines are working to improve the defense walls. Road connections around the walls are being closed.
Work is underway to close and fix the defense walls to keep the lava away from infrastructure in the area. mbl.is/Kristinn Magnússon
Will the defense walls hold the lava at bay?
He says there is enough material to work with in the area and adds it remains to be seen how well the defense walls will hold the lava at bay.
“No one knows how much lava this eruption will produce. The defense walls can endure a certain amount until they cannot hold the lava anymore. Then it’s over,” Steingrímsson says.
He adds that everybody is hoping that the lava will not get to the water pipes it is impossible to tell at this point.
Jón Haukur Steingrímsson, geoengineer at Efla Engineering. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson
