Canal to be re-opened on schedule

Parish Councillors Pam Seddon and Bill Consterdine attended a meeting last night with managers from British Waterways and canal users. At the meeting they were told the good news that the Shropshire Union Canal is due to be re-opened on time – on 24th October – following the appearance of a large hole which emptied the canal in the Shebdon area south of Market Drayton back in August.

Those at the meeting heard how a remarkable new method of mixing soil, sand and gravel with a binding agent called betonite was used to mend holes in the bottom of the canal. The process also involved the use of heavy machinery including a 40 tonne digger which had to be driven along a specially strengthened bit of the canal floor – with the engineers' fingers firmly crossed in the hope that the machine would not fall through the hole. It didn't'!

All seems to have gone well and with the work almost complete now, the plan is to fill the canal with water early next week, perform the necessary safety checks and then open it to boats again on 24th October. All in all it's been a long 2 months waiting for the canal to be repaired, but now we know the scale of the operation (which cost around £600,000) it seems amazing that it didn't take longer.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.