Repaired T&M breach leaking
The breach caused the canal to be closed for eight months until May the following year, causing great problem for the many boaters stuck on the 'wrong side', with some having to use the Manchester Ship Canal to get back to their home moorings. The picture shows the original breach.
Substantial leak
But it was obviously a botch job, as a 'substantial leak' has occurred where the new section meets the original canal bank, and so now the section is emptied once again and the waterway closed, with boater John Bamford reporting:
Just got back from a walk there today. The canal is empty between bridges 211 and 212—from 212 you can see up to the original breach and the concrete work on the towpath side. We went back to Acton Bridge, where we met a liveaboard boater who is moored there.
Significant weakness
He told us that the leak appeared where the breach repair work meets the original canal work—to use a building analogy if the repair has been butted-up to the original, rather than being keyed in, there would be an area of significant weakness.
He said the whirlpool was on the offside, not towpath, and when CaRT investigated, they also found a hole in the bed which opened into a cavity or void below The fields below the old breach site are full of canal water, so it was more than a trickle, It is clearly making its way below the canal bed and out the embankment.side.
Essential workers redundant
We also met a couple of walkers who had been diverted, and had an interesting conversation about the need to properly maintain a 200 year old engineering structure, and to provide preventative maintenance—but they knew that BW had progressively made its essential workers redundant. So even for the more general public (well, some of them at least) there is an awareness of the dreadful BW legacy; they expressed doubt that CaRT has the capacity to make much difference. I had to agree.
I feel another appeal for money coming on!