Toddbrook Reservoir Dam Wall Monitoring

Toddbrook Reservoir Dam Wall Monitoring2022-11-03T14:59:15+00:00

On the morning of August 1st, concerns were raised about the Toddbrook reservoir dam wall as the reservoir reached capacity and water began to spill down the concrete spillway.

Dam wall collapse

By 1pm part of the concrete spillway had collapsed due to the overtopping water, raising immidiate concerns for the nearby village of Whaley Bridge, with residents being evacuated to a safe location.  The safety and future of the dam was also a concern, but engineers were very confident that it could be saved.

Canals and River trust had a plan of action in place within the hour to begin reducing the amount of water in the reservoir, with pipes and pumps being put in place to remove the equivalent of 12 bath tubs of water per second.  RAF Chinook helicopters were also used in the operation, dropping around 400 tonnes of aggregate on surrounding watercourses and on the spillways concrete apron wall to help plug the gap and prevent further damage to the dam wall.

Reservoir & Dam Wall Monitoring

Survey Operations were one of the companies called in to help with the operation and we were tasked with monitoring any movement on the dam wall to ensure that there were no further breaches and ensuring the safety of the ongoing operation.

Each hour a reading would be taken and the data assessed to detect and monitor any slight movement in the dam wall and due to the excellence in our staff, training and equipment the readings from the monitoring are highly accurate meaning providing assurance that if the monitoring of the wall is sufficient, the next steps in the plan can then be implemented.

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