Current Status
The Bridgewater is often considered to be the first true canal in Britain, as it relied upon existing watercourses as sources of water rather than as navigable routes. It now terminates in Runcorn basin, just before the disused flight of 10 locks which (before the approach road to the Silver Jubilee Bridge was built) used to lower the canal to the Runcorn Docks on the River Mersey and later, to the Manchester Ship Canal. The old line of locks in Runcorn fell into disuse in the late 1930s, and they were closed under the Ship Canal Act of 1949 and filled in. The Ship Canal Act of 1966 allowed the closure and filling in of the newer line of locks. The gates from this flight of locks were removed and installed at Devizes on the Kennett & Avon Canal. The Duke's warehouse in Manchester was demolished in 1960.
The canal has suffered three breaches; one soon after opening, another in 1971 near the River Bollin aqueduct, and another in the summer of 2005 when a sluice gate failed in Manchester. Cranes are located at intervals along the canal's length to allow boards to be dropped into slots in the banks. These allow sections of the canal to be isolated in the event of a leak.
The canal now forms an integral part of the Cheshire Ring network of canals. Pleasure craft have been allowed on the canal since 1952.
The proposed new road crossing of the Mersey may allow a realignment of the Bridge approach road and the complete restoration of the original flight of locks – thus re-opening the link to Runcorn Docks, the Runcorn and Weston Canal, the River Mersey, the Manchester Ship Canal, and the River Weaver. This would create a new ring route for leisure boats involving the Trent and Mersey Canal, the Anderton Boat Lift and the River Weaver.
The Hulme Locks Branch Canal in Manchester is now disused, and on 26 May 1995 was replaced by the nearby Pomona Lock.
Read more about this topic: Bridgewater Canal
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