Prompt action by British Waterways

It is good to be able to report a case of prompt response by British Waterways to a report of a potential problem on the canal.

Ian Haughey writes...

Having been told about two apparent leaks on the towpath at Audlem between Locks 4 and 5 by a concerned local resident, who had notified British Waterways as she had noticed water there before, we hatched a plan to contact them again as time had passed since her initial call. Adding 'but this does seem to be getting worse. Dont think Audlem could afford another breach this year.'

British Waterways responded to both a phone call and e-mail very promptly advising that they would look at it today (Friday), and they have. And their response was

"Ian, Wendy Capelle has asked me as Principal Waterway Engineer to respond to your Email. Firstly thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have had an Engineer visit site today to assess the situation and have concluded that it is not canal water that is emanating from the towpath. The towpath level is higher than water level and as such the water source is far more likely to be from a drainage pipe beneath the towpath which takes run off from the cutting slope.

"We have scheduled a team to excavate and investigate whether or not the drain has been damaged at some time. These works will take place in the next week and will allow us to determine the way forward regarding repairs.We appreciate your concerns but would assure you that there is no possible risk of a breach being caused by this leak as the area is in cutting.

"Regards Joe Murphy (Principal Waterway Engineer)."

So no breach to look forward to this year then!!

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