Wigan Flight stoppage

The Wigan lock flight on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal has been closed following damage to a lock gate.

The gate, at Lock 83, near the bottom of the flight, suffered "impact damage from a boat".

The flight is closed until further notice while CRT staff investigate the damage and design the repair.

An update will be issued on Tuesday 14th July. It is believed that this stoppage is not affected passage between the Leigh Branch and the canal west of Wigan. Boaters intending to travel between the Leigh Branch and the canal west of Wigan may wish to contact the Wigan office to confirm this.

Update Tuesday 14th July:
CRT has come up with several ideas for using the damaged gates until they can be repaired. These solutions will be tested tomorrow (Wednesday) to see if they will work safely. A further update will be issued tomorrow afternoon. CRT say they are working to get boats moving again as soon as possible. The impact damage means that the gates will need to be completely replaced in the winter.

Update Wednesday 15th July:
CRT has worked out a temporary method for letting boats through the lock flight until some sort of repair can be made to the gates. Boats travelling on the flight should arrive at Lock 65 or Lock 85 at 8.00 am. Once the boats present at 8.00 am have moved onto the flight, no further boats will be admitted. Boats will be assisted through Lock 83 by CRT staff (but not through other locks). The flight will then be locked until the next morning.

CRT will issue a further update indicating when they expect to carry out the temporary repairs to the gates.


Lock 83 at Wigan, Leeds and Liverpool Canal