Draining of aqueduct
Monday 9th November 2009, 11:52AM GMT.
More than a million litres of water is to be drained from the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct near Oswestry today as the plug is pulled on the world famous landmark.
The newly-crowned World Heritage Site is being drained and cleaned ahead of next year’s tourist season.
British Waterways said the operation, which was last carried out in 2003, was set to offer a spectacular sight to visitors.
The operation was due to get under way at 12.30pm and was expected to take about two hours to drain.
The aqueduct is drained by the removal of a large plug in the middle of the structure. When released, it sends the 1.5 million litres of water cascading into the River Dee, almost 130ft below. This draining will allow a thorough four-day inspection of the structure.
It is the first such operation on Thomas Telford’s 204-year-old masterpiece since it won Unesco World Heritage Status, putting it on a par with the likes of the Statue of Liberty and the Taj Mahal.
The ceremonial pulling of the plug was due to be undertaken by a pupil from Ysgol Bryn Collen in Llangollen.
The 11-mile corridor from Chirk through to the Horseshoe Falls on the River Dee at Llangollen is rich in heritage and history, containing 168 notable features and structures.
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38 minutes advance warning. Couldn’t you have published this story a few days ago?
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I agree with Jake, why could this not of been mentioned say friday, so that people had a chance to go and see it. I for one would of gone along !
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lets hope someone captures the draining on video and posts it on the internet for all to watch who can not get there
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How’s about a photo of the plug mechanism, maybe the drama of the student pulling the plug! – it’s something we get rare chances to see. Cascading waters lovely and all that, but there’s plenty of waterfalls to see that kind of thing.
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I took a video sequence from the bend downstream. It is on YouTube, linked from the latest article on the Star’s front page.
Measured from still photos I took at the time, the actual drop from the centre of the outlet pipe to the river surface on that day was 111 feet. The aqueduct itself is 126 feet 8 inches high from the river bed to the top of the trough, with the towpath extending a few inches above that.
The valve mechanism is out of sight below the trough, with just a stirrup-like handle to pull up at the outer edge of the towpath.
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