ALAN YATES BRINGS YOU the latest Whitchurch progress report.
Monday to Wednesday
The early part of the week was spent reducing leakage through the stop planks and the bund to enable the submersible pumps to cope and keep the section drained. The main problem was getting the leading edges of the tarpaulin used to seal. This a common problem with using tarpaulin as a sealing membrane.
(Picture by kieran lottie photography.)
Thursday
There was a site meeting and last thing one of the large excavators removed a substantial square of saturated soil from the previously wet patch. Its doubtful this would have been done had water been still seeping into that area?
Important Result
With the area around the lift bridge/Arm entrance de-watered, the wet patch seems to no longer suffer from water ingress. So maybe the cause of the breach was indeed leakage from the main arm adjacent to the New Mills Lift Bridge?
Friday
Hardcore was introduced into the hole , 'lift' by 'lift' with a portable compactor used on each layer to ensure a stable area of hardcore is formed. See attached photo. This work is not quite complete but should be sorted by late Monday.
Summary
The piling around the mooring point for the lift bridge will need renewing as well as the brickwork around the lift bridge.
Latest estimate for the whole repair is in the region of £10 million. Lessons from the Toddbrooke fiasco have been ignored it seems. 'Let it fail' can be very costly compared to preventative maintenance.