THERE IS HOPE THAT THE breach on the Whitchurch Arm of the Llangollen Canal could be repaired in time for Christmas.

ThreeBoatWhitchurchBreachWork is to start very soon on the repair, Janet Friend reports.

Sacrificing other work

However this depends on sacrificing other repair work to find the finance for restoration of the Arm, when narrowboats were trapped on the 22nd December.

Contractors hope to take advantage of a dry summer to undertake the work required. And of course it depends what will be found during the progress. (Photograph by Canal & River Trust.)

It is understood that a technique known as reinforced earth will be used together with a plastic grid, it needing an estimated 10,000 cubic metres of material to move.

Increasing the cost

Since the breach, six pumps have supplied the reservoir with water, that itself supplies homes and commercial properties with water.

This is of course increasing the cost of the operation.