The Canal & River Trust has submitted its interim report on the Llangollen Canal breach at Whitchurch, UK.
The canal breach occurred on Whitchurch Embankment 2 in late December 2024, a high, steep, curved embankment with visitor moorings. Before the breach, it had not been classed as an asset of concern or at risk of breaching and inspections by the trust produced no evidence to suggest imminent collapse.
The report says that despite the absence of visual indicators, the failure of the structure progressed over a short period of time, with no opportunity to intervene. Boats present at the location were drawn towards the breach, and several boaters were displaced; a large volume of water drained from the canal onto adjacent farmland.
What caused the Llangollen Canal breach?
Prepared by Canal & River Trust engineers, supported by technical experts, the initial report poses an emerging hypothesis for the possible causes of the breach.
Early findings suggest the failure was likely caused by a combination of specific physical factors in this location – a steep-sided, very high embankment predominantly constructed of sand – together with suspected slow, low-volume leakage under the canal bed over many years. This long-term leakage, or ‘piping’, is thought to have eroded material below the canal bed and created a void, ultimately resulting in collapse.
Based on the information currently available, the trust says no material evidence has been identified to suggest that any of the following could have caused the breach: heavy rainfall, high water levels (overtopping), badger or rabbit excavations or unexpected tree falls.
Further investigations are continuing, and a further report will be made available once the trust has concluded its examination in the coming months.
Campbell Robb, the River & Canal Trust’s chief executive, says: “The breach at Whitchurch was a distressing and frightening experience for all those affected. We remain deeply sorry for the impact this event has had on boaters and the wider community and once again I’d like to thank all who responded so swiftly and generously when this event happened. We are committed to repairing the canal and reinstating navigation as soon as we can do so safely.
“While breaches of this scale remain extremely rare, we are already taking forward a number of recommendations from the investigation. We have a comparable inspection regime to organisations looking after similar infrastructure but we are augmenting this, including exploring different methods of geophysical surveying technology to better inspect beneath canal beds.”
Although it will take most of the year, the trust says it is progressing with the repair of the canal, with the goal to get the navigation back open as quickly as possible. This includes completing a key 100-metre-long access track across farmland from the A41, which will be used to bring in around 20,000 tonnes of aggregate needed to rebuild the canal’s embankment.
Construction is likely to start this spring once in-depth ground investigation work is complete, as part of due diligence to confirm the design of the embankment rebuild.
The trust has also completed an important ecological milestone with the rescue and safe return to the canal of around 1,000 fish that had been washed into the large pool of water that formed in a neighbouring field.
The full report has been published online by the River & Canal Trust.
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