STEM Construction completes Overflow Let-off Chamber on Bridgewater Canal
Protecting the flow of water and traffic on the Bridgewater Canal
STEM Construction were asked to manage the process of constructing an overflow let-off chamber to allow water to flow into a culvert which runs beneath the canal embankment.
The site was remote and impossible to access by road, so we used the canal to its fullest, delivering all plant and equipment to site by barge.
To complete these works with the minimum of disruption a cofferdam was installed. This is a temporary dam which provides a dry environment within the usual canal system. This was constructed using sheet piling and safely dewatered to allow our teams to have dry access to the chamber where new pipework was needed.
A penstock chamber was then installed and pipeworks were connected to the existing culvert manhole to complete the works, before the canal embankments were reinstated around the site.
This section of the waterway now has a fully functional let-off chamber for the overflow into the culvert, giving the canal years of secure flow for water and for waterborne goods and travellers too.