Llangollen Canal breach repair updates

Works on site have been focused on completing our ground investigations. This phase of the works is expected to continue until the end of April.

Access has now been established into the canal bed to allow plant and machinery to complete our borehole investigations in this area, and to enable excavation of the embankment to begin in preparation for reconstruction works.

The next stage of the works will involve unblocking the buried culvert so that it can be fully inspected.

We are today able to share the initial findings of the investigation into the Llangollen Canal breach that occurred at Whitchurch, Shropshire, last December. The full investigation is still ongoing while the site is being drained and cleared, and a further report will be made available once it has concluded in the coming months.

Prepared by Canal & River Trust engineers, supported by technical experts, the initial report poses an emerging hypothesis for the possible causes of the breach. At this stage the findings suggest the breach was likely caused by a combination of a number of specific physical characteristics in this location, combined with an undetected long-term, deep-seated leak beneath the canal bed, which we believe caused erosion below the canal bed, ultimately resulting in the collapse of the embankment.

While breaches of this scale remain extremely rare, we are already taking forward a number of recommendations from the investigation in order to ensure we take all action possible to enhance the resilience of canal infrastructure. This includes exploring new and innovative technologies to assist in maintenance, inspection and monitoring regimes.

We are committed to repairing the canal and restoring navigation as soon as possible in order to get boats back on the water and to allow all users to enjoy this stretch of the canal again. We will post further updates as the repair progresses, and in the meantime thank everyone again for their patience and support.

Read the initial findings report here.

On Wednesday 18 March, we completed an important ecological milestone in the recovery from December’s canal breach on the Llangollen Canal at Whitchurch. Around 1,000 fish washed into a neighbouring farmer’s field are being rescued and safely returned to the canal.

The pool of water in the field, which was up to six feet deep in places, has been gradually drained to around knee hight to allow a specialist fish rescue team to begin the operation of catching the fish and safely returning them back into the canal.  The fish include native species such as roach, perch, gudgeon, bream and ruffe.

Using specialist fisheries equipment, the rescue team will temporarily stun the fish by passing a low‑voltage direct electric current through the water.  This is a safe and widely‑used fisheries management technique that temporarily immobilises the fish and allows them to be collected without harm. They will then be carefully lifted into aerated buckets and transported back to the canal.

The access ramp and turning area have now been completed. This will enable safer and more efficient delivery of materials, removing the need for vehicles to reverse onto the A41. With this in place, construction of the compound area and safe machine access to the canal can now progress.

Over the coming weeks, our team will begin removing the trench sheets that were damaged during the breach. At the same time, ground investigations will be carried out to assess conditions and determine which materials can be reused as part of the repair. Major excavation work within the breach cannot begin until these investigations are complete, although machinery will be on site to undertake trial pits and provide access for borehole rigs.

Approximately 13 million litres of water have already been pumped from the flooded field into the adjacent foul sewer. A fish rescue is scheduled for this week, after which the remaining water will be fully pumped away. Once this is complete, we will be able to clear and inspect the blocked culvert that passes beneath the canal.

Vegetation clearance along both embankments have also been completed. This has included the felling of one mature oak tree and the trimming of a further five oak trees to create the necessary working area for the embankment reconstruction. Over‑pumping continues, with approximately 34 megalitres of canal water pumped past the breach last week.

Our teams are currently constructing an access road to the site compound. They are working in a farmer’s field alongside the A41, excavating a route from the road so the compound can be positioned close to the canal.

At the same time, we're gradually pumping water out of the makeshift lake that formed when the canal emptied.

Approximately 12 million litres of water flowed into the farmer’s field, where it has since become a temporary refuge for the fish that have been displaced from the canal since December. These fish now need to be safely rescued and relocated back into the canal. In a few days, our fisheries rescue team will begin efforts to catch them.

Using specialist fisheries equipment, the team will temporarily stun the fish by passing a low-voltage direct electrical current through the water. This is a safe, widely used fisheries management technique that briefly immobilises the fish, allowing them to be collected without harm. They will then be carefully transferred into aerated containers and transported back to the canal.

Now that the boats have all been removed we are focusing on getting the site ready for when the reconstruction works start. Working with our contractor Kier, we're currently setting up the site compound and installing fences to secure the area. Our teams are busy investigating the cause of the breach whilst working on a plan for the repair.

The two boats, Sefton and Ganymede, which were washed into the breach hole, have now been removed and are back into a section of drained canal. An excavator was used to reprofile the edge of the breach hole into a gentler slope, allowing the boats to be winched from the bottom of the hole.

The boats will be refloated, then taken away to assess what work is needed.

Watch Julie Sharman's update

Narrowboat Pacemaker has now been moved further along the canal and successfully re floated after it was left precariously suspended over the breach.

The two boats, Sefton and Ganymede, which were washed into the breach, will soon be removed. An excavator is being used to reprofile the edge of the breach hole into a gentler slope, allowing the boats to be winched from the bottom of the hole back into a section of drained canal channel.

The incident has been highly distressing for the boat owners affected, with footage online showing the situation unfolding. Heartbreakingly, two boats were washed into the breach hole.

Our teams, working with our contractors have managed to pull a narrowboat back from the breach hole using a specialist tracked winch. Dams have also been put in either side of the breach site meant that six further boats, initially grounded on the canal bed after the water beneath them ran out of the canal, have been carefully refloated

Our engineers and the local canal team have been on site over Christmas and New Year working to ensure that pipes and pumps are in place to safeguard a continued flow of water around the breach site so boats downstream are kept afloat. This is also important because of the role the Llangollen Canal (along with others across the UK) plays today in moving fresh water for public water supply.

We've started investigations into the likely cause of the breach however the cause of earth embankment failures is not always clear. They can be complex structures, and whilst there are a number of possibilities as to what might be the cause, it is still too early to be certain. The repairs would take much of the year and cost several million pounds.

This week attention we will turn to recovering the three remaining boats: narrowboat Pacemaker, winched away from the breach hole before Christmas, and narrowboats Sefton and Ganymede which were washed into the breach hole.

Pacemaker will be refloated by winching the boat into a section of dry canal before installing a dam and refloating it with canal water.

Sefton and Ganymede are also likely to be winched from the breach site before they are assessed and hopefully refloated. Before that is possible, we need to bring in an excavator and carefully reprofile the steep side of the breach hole so that there is a gradual slope that the boats can be winched along.