Toddbrook Reservoir will cost £10m to repair

THE failed Toddbrook Reservoir at Whaley Bridge will cost £10m to repair.

Not only £10m but will take another three years Dugald Campbell tells us.

Lack of proper maintenance

It was in August last year that the lack of proper maintenance caused the reservoir spillway to collapse resulting in more than 1,500 people being evacuated from the town at the terminus of the Peak Forest Canal.

The temporary repair of the spillway has taken a year, but it will still take three more years to complete a permanent repair to make the reservoir safe.

Hasty evacuation

An emergency operation involved RAF helicopters filling the voids whilst the reservoir was drained and the emergency services organising a hasty evacuation of the people in danger from total collapsed of the dam.

Professor David Balmforth, a reviewer of reservoir safety, blamed 'poor design' and 'Intermittent maintenance over the years' by Canal & River Trust for the failure of the dam in his report in March.  See Allan Richard's report.

Even now, a final design has not yet been decided but engineers expect it will cost £10m and take three years but work is not due to start until Spring next year.