New lock gates installed on canals

New lock gates have been installed on several canals as part of a £1.2m programme of conservation work to protect historic waterways in Cheshire.

The work was carried out on sections of the Llangollen Canal, Shropshire Union Canal and Trent and Mersey Canal, where gates had reached the end of their 25-year lifespan.

New gates were fitted at Quoisley Lock near Marbury and lock 10 at Audlem, both in the south of the county near Whitchurch, and lock 76 near Dutton outside Runcorn.

Specialist teams also repaired brickwork inside the locks to help keep them watertight and protect them from increasing risks such as flooding and drought.

Jon Horsfall, regional director, said the work was essential to maintaining the 250-year-old network.

He said: "Cheshire's canals are centuries-old working heritage and, with rising costs, climate pressures and more extreme weather events, the challenge of keeping them in good condition for navigation has never been greater."

The repairs formed part of a wider programme of winter maintenance, involving 137 projects at more than 100 locks, as well as bridges, tunnels and embankments, carried out when boat traffic is as its lowest.

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