Union Canal breached

THE Scottish Union Canal has breached in the torrential rain of Wednesday, draining its entire 30 miles long pound.

A large part of its bank was washed away in the downpour near Polmont, flooding Scotland's busiest railway connecting Edinburgh and Glasgow, and causing its closure, Alan Tilbury reports.

Contour canal

As a contour canal there are only locks at one end leaving a 30 mile long pound, with engineers building barriers at each side of the breach to stem the loss of water.

It is told that 40mm of rain fell in the space of one hour in the area causing a huge surge in the canal with water rushing over the bank and eventually taking it away.

Boats stranded

Many boats have been left stranded as the water drained away, but it is hoped that the barriers will allow them to be re-floated and so moved, though their individual mooring locations will cause problems.

The information at present is that the breach will take months to repair.