IT WAS WAY BACK on August 14th the a burst water main closed the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Wigan.
The burst was under the canal that had to be drained for access, Janet Friend reports.
Will be closed for months
At that time the engineers told that the waterway would be closed for weeks, but they tell it will be several weeks more before the work is completed, meaning it will be closed for months.
As of course the waterway needed to be drained to access the burst water main.
We are told by United Utilities that the work on the burst main at Platt is expected to conclude in the spring, but they are hoping to allow boats through by the end of October.
It is told that it is a 'huge, rare and complex engineering operation' that was launched in August after it was discovered that a pipe running underneath the canal had ruptured and was leaking.
Create a dam
It was decided to create a dam on either side of the pipe breach which means the canal has been impassable for weeks already, much to some boat owners’ annoyed resignation.
The work includes excavating the sealed base of the canal in order to isolate the affected pipe, carrying out a repair while water is diverted elsewhere and then ensuring that the waterway itself doesn’t leak when the hole is filled in again. With United Utilities telling there is much more work to be done after that, taking the project well into next year.