The Canal & River Trust is carrying out emergency repairs on the Macclesfield Canal at Bollington after discovering a leak during a routine inspection.
Temporary dams have been installed either end of a 750-meter section of the Macclesfield Canal between bridges 26 and 27, which has now been drained.
After building a special road using ‘bog mats’ to get excavators and other equipment into the bottom of the canal, contractors are now underway with repairs to fix the canal.
David Baldacchino, Canal & River Trust waterway manager, explained: “ The Macclesfield Canal is extremely popular for boaters and it is an important part of the local community. Unfortunately these sorts of things can happen to a structure which is nearly 200 years old but we are taking swift action to repair it. ”
David Thorne, Canal & River Trust project manager , added: “ Our contractors, Kier, will be working hard to carry out these emergency repairs as speedily as possible. We plan to remove silt, repair damaged areas and then backfill with clay to the normal canal bed level. Over the next week or so we expect to continue a process of investigation and repairs, extending the road in the canal bed as we go along. ”
The towpath is closed during the emergency repairs with diversions in place between bridge 25 (Holehouse Lane) and bridge 28 (Grimshaw Lane).
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