IT WAS ON THE 14th August that a water main burst under the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Wigan.
It then closing the canal for navigation, I Dugald Campbell reports.
Closed seven miles pound
This closing the seven miles pound on the Leigh Branch.
It has has finally re-opened after work on replacing the burst pipe that has taken over three months to complete.
During the operation engineers from both the Canal & River Trust and United Utilities, owners of the water main, worked together to at the site between Poolstock Lock and Bamfurlong Bridge to complete the repair.
Ramps had to be installed to allow vehicles to bring machinery to the site, then both the canal bank and bed had to be evacuated to allow access to the burst water main.
Pipe replaced
Then the broken pipe was replaced and the canal bed was repaired with an estimated 300 tonnes of clay, then the bank had metal sheeting along its length to strengthen it.
Gareth Taylor, an engineer at trust told:
“We’re delighted that the Leigh branch has reopened to boaters.
"It’s a short but mighty local treasure and is highly valued by boaters and local people for its nature, heritage, and, of course, for navigation.
"There were some unique challenges involved in this complex repair and our specialist engineers have worked closely with United Utilities to get the canal back open as soon as we possibly could."
The Leigh branch runs for seven miles, from the junction with the main line of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Wigan to Leigh, where it joins the Stretford & Leigh Branch of the Bridgewater Canal.