Jump to content

Cooper Bridge Weir Callapse

MartinClark

By MartinClark
in Stoppages

 Share

Featured Posts

MartinClark Experienced

MartinClark

Posted
Posted

Not many months after the failure of nearby Ledgard weir, the weir at Cooper Bridge on the Calder and Hebble collapsed late last week.

 

The initial failure dropped the level by a foot or two, then a large section of the weir completely collapsed, rendering the river unnavigable from Kirklees Lower Lock to Cooper Bridge lock cut, including the access to the Huddersfield Broad Canal.

 

cooperbridge03.jpg

This photo shows BW staff inspecting the weir, which is not normally visible from this angle.

Other photos can be seen here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
PeterF Rising Star

PeterFDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
Can't get away over the Rochdale till the middle of March. any idea when the weir will be repaired?

I was speaking to Brian at Shepley Bridge today and it seems like this will be a lengthy repair, he was talking 3-4 weeks based on his discussions with BW. The collapse is on the opposite side of the river to the access and getting equipment / materials over to repair it will apparently be difficult. Talk of needing to get a temporary bridge built first. I drove over to see it and there has been no start on the repair as of Saturday morning. Wait and see what BW say on Monday.

 

PeterF

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris J W Influencer

Chris J W

Posted
Posted

This is unsubstantiated, but I was talking with the BW Mooring Warden yesterday and he thought it'd probably be a fairly long stoppage, too.

 

He also mentioned that Ganny Lock (just up from Brighouse) MIGHT get repaired this year, after all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
MartinClark Experienced

MartinClark

Posted
  • Author
Posted
This is unsubstantiated, but I was talking with the BW Mooring Warden yesterday and he thought it'd probably be a fairly long stoppage, too.

 

He also mentioned that Ganny Lock (just up from Brighouse) MIGHT get repaired this year, after all.

 

Ganny Lock is being repaired now and is due to reopen on 13th March.

 

Work on Cooper Bridge Weir starts next week and BW is hoping will be completed by 31st March, river conditions allowing. Linky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Neil TNC Rising Star

Neil TNC

Posted
Posted
Ganny Lock is being repaired now and is due to reopen on 13th March.

 

Work on Cooper Bridge Weir starts next week and BW is hoping will be completed by 31st March, river conditions allowing. Linky.

 

 

Martin, when BW is privatised, I recommend you to manage the Pennine Waterways :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris J W Influencer

Chris J W

Posted
Posted
Ganny Lock is being repaired now and is due to reopen on 13th March.

 

Work on Cooper Bridge Weir starts next week and BW is hoping will be completed by 31st March, river conditions allowing. Linky.

 

Starting to wonder if I'll ever get off the C&H ... :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mac of Cygnet Veteran II

Mac of CygnetDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
I was planning on going downstream, but am now at Hebden Bridge waitng for Summit t open.

 

Yes, this waterway is in effect cut off and virtually closed at the moment. Went for a little trip down from Sowerby Bridge last week, to find that BW are assuming that no-one is moving at all, and had gone off and left the Salterhebble one-hour 'window' closed without telling anyone. They were OK about sending someone to let us through, but I felt a bit guilty about dragging someone away from various other jobs. They must have wasted more man-hours on operating the temporary winch on the guillotine than half a dozen new winches would have cost.

 

Mac

Link to comment
Share on other sites
PeterF Rising Star

PeterFDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Latest from Waterscape stoppages page is that Ganny lock will now be shut until the 20th March as they have found problems in the lock structure, making the stoppage 1 week longer.

 

Also noticed that the Salterhebble guilotine gate is no longer on the list of stoppages - but based on Mac's comment it appears to still be BW operated with reduced opening hours.

 

PeterF.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mac of Cygnet Veteran II

Mac of CygnetDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
Also noticed that the Salterhebble guilotine gate is no longer on the list of stoppages - but based on Mac's comment it appears to still be BW operated with reduced opening hours.

 

PeterF.

 

Not just reduced opening hours! If you want to get through you are advised to phone Leeds about an hour beforehand (this has not been announced officially). But where would you go/come from anyway?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris J W Influencer

Chris J W

Posted
Posted
Latest from Waterscape stoppages page is that Ganny lock will now be shut until the 20th March as they have found problems in the lock structure, making the stoppage 1 week longer.

 

Also noticed that the Salterhebble guilotine gate is no longer on the list of stoppages - but based on Mac's comment it appears to still be BW operated with reduced opening hours.

 

PeterF.

 

ARG!!

 

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
PeterF Rising Star

PeterFDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Work started about 1 week ago, expectation to have it completed by end March. Hoping at some point that there might be enough water depth before end March to get a modern narrowboat through similar to what was managed when ledgard weir was repaired last year. Might have a cruise up this weekend to have a look.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
PeterF Rising Star

PeterFDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

For anybody interested, some photos after going to have a look.

 

As the collapse was on the far side they are building a "road" over from the right hand bank in the pictures. Sheet piles are being driven in about 12ft upstream of the weir and large rocks tipped into the space to provide the road. This is repeated to get over to the collapse. The road is about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way accross the river at the moment. Because of the way of working, the water levels are still right down with hadly a trace of water in Cooper Bridge cut.

 

cb1.jpg

Cooper Bridge visitor mooring still completely empty

 

cb2.jpg

View of the whole weir with the acess road coming down from the right hand side.

 

cb3.jpg

Close up of the access road showing the method of construction

 

cb4.jpg

Close up of the end of the access road approaching the collapse.

 

Peterf.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MartinClark Experienced

MartinClark

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
Good explanation.

 

...but not completely correct.

:lol:

 

Look back to the top of the thread to the first photo I posted and you will see that the piles were already in place in January, at the time of the weir's collapse.

 

All they have done this week is to put stones in behind those piles.

 

The only explanation I can think of for this is that they were planning a repair to the original damage at the left hand end of the weir before the whole end of the weir gave way.

 

Edited to add:

This piling can be seen even more clearly in this photo BW sent out in February:

cooperbridge04.jpg

Edited by MartinClark
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.