With so many breaches now occurring, they surely must show that the canal embankments are now in a precarious state, writes T. Lang.
And the breaches are getting worse as both the one on the Bridgewater Canal and this latest one on the Llangollen Canal clearly show.
It is not just the embankment that gives way under the tremendous pressure of water for over 200 years, but now taking away the ground too, leaving a great hole, as shown on the Llangollen breach.
Then there is the problem of ‘connecting’ the new embankment to the old, that will surely cause a weakness that was shown with the Trent & Mersey Canal breach near to the Bridgewater Canal, that was repaired then failed again at the point between the old and new embankments.
The bank failures are certainly coming fast and furious, closing waterways for months on end before being fully repaired, that take so long. The one on The Bridgewater Canal taking two years.
Two breaches last year on the Macclesfield Canal, closing it for months, and yourselves only just escaping the one on the top pound of the Caldon Canal a few years back. (Pictured by Julie.)
It is so obvious that our waterways are dramatically failing, with breaches now possible anywhere and at any time.
I for one don’t moor on embankments anymore—and I believe there are many of the same ilk.