Leeds and Liverpool Breach at Melling

The Leeds and Liverpool is closed at Melling after a culvert breached on Tuesday evening. This part of the canal is between Maghull and Aintree on the approach to Liverpool.

Nearby residents noticed the canal level dropping, with water disappearing into a hole near the side of the channel. Nearby fields are reported to have become flooded. Emergency services have dropped 650 sandbags into the canal in a bid to stem the flow although, as this is part of a 28 mile pound, a lot of water will escape until stop planks have been put in place.

There are reports of boats sitting on the canal bed. The extent of the damage to the culvert is not known at this time, nor how long it will be before this section of canal is navigable again.

Boaters with Liverpool Canal Link bookings will be contacted by CRT and kept updated. If you have a Liverpool Canal Link booking and need advice, please contact CRT on 03030 404040.

Update - 15th June:
CRT has obtained permission to access the canal across neighbouring land and are in the process of laying a track to get the necessary machinery to site. This should take one week to install. Dams will then be installed on either side of the collapsed culvert so that the damage can be assessed, and  the necessary repairs planned and started.

When CRT has established the severity of the damage, they will be able to estimate a timescale for the work. CRT's initial assessment is that the area will be closed for at least six weeks, although the situation is not thought to be as severe as Middlewich.

Update - 20th June:
CRT hopes to install the dams next Monday and Thursday. The Environment Agency has given permission to extract water from the River Alt, so CRT can start refilling the canal between Aintree and Liverpool, which may take some time. With the dams in place, work can begin on repairing the culvert.

Update - 28th June:
Next week, CRT will start to dig out the damaged culvert. It is hoped that the culvert can be replaced and the canal re-watered by the 3rd week in August.

Update - 1st August:
CRT today confirmed that the work on reconstructing the culvert is progressing in spite of minor problems and the canal is expected to re-open to navigation on 24th August.

Update - 24th August:
CRT today announced that the canal and towpath have re-opened.

Water escaping into a hole into the culvert on Tuesday evening. You can see from the reeds how much the water level had dropped by this time. Image: Lesley Lewis

Update - 13th June:
A dam has been created from sand bags at Bridge 10. This is the view downstream of Bridge 10 on Wednesday morning.

Canal near Bridge 10, Melling. Image: Les Nolan.