Engineers say that they are assessing the scale of damage to a canal built more than 250 years ago after flood waters caused a dramatic collapse of part of its elevated embankment in Cheshire.
According to reports, the Bridgewater canal, which was previously used to transport coal but is now a leisure waterway, caved in near Dunham Massey, in the first major breach of the waterway for 54 years. Drone footage showed the collapse of the human-made embankment that carries the canal 12 metres (40ft) above the River Bollin. Witnesses said the collapse looked like a bomb had gone off.
A sewage treatment works run by United Utilities at Dunham Massey was inundated as canal waters deluged the land near the village of Little Bollington. The company has been contacted for comment. The collapse is another example of the significant threat to homes, businesses and national infrastructure from increased flooding as a result of climate change.
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Cheshire police evacuated properties after the collapse and a section of the M56 had to be closed. The canal is owned by the Bridgewater Canal Company Ltd. The chief engineer was on site on Thursday to assess the scale of the damage with the police, fire service and Environment Agency officials.
“It looks like a bomb has hit it,” said Daniel Kaye, who was walking his dog at the time of the collapse.
“As I was walking along the towpath, I was thinking the canal does not normally flow like this and the level was a lot lower than normal. Then I could hear running water like a waterfall. I know the River Bollin runs underneath and thought that must be flowing really heavy then,” he told the Manchester Evening News.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
