Service/product: PortaDam

Customer: Canal and River Trust

Location: Norbury Wharf, Staffordshire, UK

The historic Norbury Wharf dates back to 1835, when it was known as the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction canal, later becoming the Shropshire Union canal. As such, this is now a conservation area with several listed buildings and heritage structures in the surrounding area

In early 2023, the Trust identified that a 20m section of the waterway wall at Norbury Junction was in a state of failure. The wall had sunk and was leaning into the canal on the north corner of the wharf.OnSite were called in by the Trust as part of their framework, firstly to PortaDam the area, before the deconstruction and rebuild of the wall. On starting the work, the OnSite team discovered that the canal depth was greater than expected. This required an additional 150 tonnes of stone to be installed to the canal bed to create a firmer surface.Due to the historic nature of the site, there were many considerations for the team during the project.

A heritage advisor was consulted to approve the type and colour match of the bricks used to rebuild the wall although the team reused the original bricks where it was possible to do so. The wall also had to be constructed in the same brick bond as the original.

The existing concrete copings were numbered as they were removed so they could be put back in their original layout.

The heritage advisor also supervised the removal of the timber sleepers.

Whilst the project was due to last 12 weeks, the team completed it in just nine weeks. As the marina had to be closed during the works, this was great news for the marina owner.

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