A section of the busy Llangollen Canal at Hurleston in Nantwich is to close for urgent repairs.
Canal River Trust engineers are on site between Bridges 3 and 4 due to a “severe leakage” and a full closure will take place from Tuesday (April 20).
Works could take up to 10 days or longer if they find significant damage.
The trust said: “Whilst we have managed to complete a partial survey using remote CCTV equipment, we have been unable to survey the full-length of the culvert due to it being submerged underwater.
“We need to complete this survey to determine the cause of the significant leakage and to see if we can implement a temporary repair or if we need to close the canal and implement a full replacement or repair of the culvert.
“However, following feedback from customers and stakeholders and with the number of closures affecting travel across the North West, we have taken the decision to delay the installation of stop planks to allow passage through the affected area until the dams are in place.
“The stop planks are ready to be installed should the leakage deteriorate, and our teams will continue to carry out inspections to ensure passage is safe for our customers.
“Having reviewed the programme and methodology with the contractor, the dams will now be installed at 8am on Tuesday 20 April to reduce the disruption to a minimum and to allow an extra day of movement between Bridge 3, Martins Bridge and Bridge 4, Lees Bridge on the Llangollen Canal.
“Please be reminded should the problem deteriorate, we may be forced to close navigation before Tuesday.
“The towpath will be closed for the duration of these works to allow for a safe working environment.
“Once our engineers have been able to dewater this section of canal, further investigations can resume, with the intention to carry out a temporary repair over a 7 to 10 day period which will allow navigation through the summer months while we plan for a permanent repair during the winter months.
“However, we are unable to confirm that a temporary repair will be possible, and we may need to complete a full culvert replacement which will close the canal for a longer period of time and customers should keep this in mind when planning their journeys.”
(Library image for display purposes only)
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