Caldon breach repaired

THE breach that occurred on the Caldon Canal last November near the Leek terminus, has been repaired.

Though it was only a short length of a few hundred yards from the end, the waterway at that point was a feeder to the whole canal, and had to be repaired, at a cost of £500,000.

Into the Churnet

The breach resulted in the collapse of a 15m length of canal embankment and damage to the canal bed and it's clay lining. As a consequence approximately 21 million gallons of water leaked across agricultural land and into the Churnet.

Following the breach temporary dams were put in place at Leek Tunnel closing access to the short length of canal between the tunnel and the canal terminus.

The dams have now been removed and the waterways is open to its Leek terminus.

Keyed

After a period of extensive investigations the repair works commenced in early March. The embankment has been repaired with a new clay and earth dam that has keyed in to the existing canal bank. The clay lining of the canal has also been reinstated to ensure the canal remains watertight and a number of sections of embankment have been reinforced to reduce the risk of future leakages.

The investigations carried out by British Waterways engineers following the breach indicated that it may have been due to an historic weakness related to the installation of a culvert, and works have taken place to address this by relining with a new length of culvert to maintain land drainage.

The works were completed in late June and, following a period of testing to ensure that the repairs were watertight, the canal was reopened this week.