Workers raise alarm as canal springs a leak
ENGINEERS have carried out emergency repairs to Macclesfield Canal after another leak.
The problem hit where the canal passes by the AstraZeneca site in Hurdsfield.
Staff at the pharmaceutical firm noticed that a ditch, which feeds into a culvert underneath the canal, was filling with water and raised the alarm on Wednesday, September 28.
Engineers from The Canal and Rivers Trust, which manages the canal, went to the site and closed the waterway and towpath while they investigated.
They found a structure failure causing a significant leak.
Temporary repairs were put in place and canal was reopened for navigation by Thursday.
More than 20 tonnes of clay was been brought to site by boat on Friday for the repair work over the weekend.
Jeff Smith from the trust, said: “We were alerted to a potential leak on the Macclesfield Canal by staff at AstraZeneca on Wednesday afternoon. They noticed that a ditch, which feeds into a culvert underneath the canal, was filling with water.
“We immediately sent an emergency response team to assess the problem.
“They worked through Wednesday evening to carry out patch repairs to the canal bed clay which successfully stemmed the flow of water.
“Our contractors Kier are currently on site and they will spend the next two or three days working through the weekend to carry out more extensive repairs to the canal bed.
“More than 20 tonnes of clay has been brought to site by boat for the repair work.
The canal navigation will remain open through- out the work and we are expecting the emergency repair job to be completed by early next week.”
It is the third leak on the canal since May.
The previous two happened in the Bollington stretch. In the first inci- dent hundreds of boats have been left stranded after a serious leak prompted the emergency closure of the canal by Clarence Mill.
A 750m section of the canal was blocked and drained as engineers attempt to fix a leak which had flooded the recreation ground.
However, less than a month later engineers were back at the site frantically trying to stop another leak after their efforts to fix it failed.