Major construction work has now started to restore Toddbrook Reservoir in Whaley Bridge, after the project’s 1970s-built spillway was damaged following torrential rain in summer 2019. The work is likely to cost around £15 million and take around two years to complete, with the reservoir due to reopen in late 2024.
The Canal & River Trust charity which cares for the reservoir and 2,000 miles of waterways across England and Wales, is working with its contractor Kier to deliver the restoration. Work has already begun to create a site compound on the northern end of the town’s Memorial Park, which has been temporarily closed to the public. Hoardings are being erected, site accesses installed and existing drainage and feeder channels realigned.
Later this autumn construction work begins to create a new overflow spillway structure to the north of the dam. This involves building a side channel weir, ‘tumble bay’, spillway channel and stilling basin which will link into the existing bypass channel flowing into the River Goyt in the park.
The final phase of the project will be to remove the concrete panels from the original overflow spillway. The dam will then be repaired and grassed over. This will be followed by works to the inlet cascade, at the far end of the reservoir, to increase resilience to high flows from Todd Brook stream.
“We are pleased to be starting work on the major construction project to restore Toddbrook Reservoir,” commented Tom Greenwood, project manager for the Canal & River Trust. “This comes after extensive investigation works, two independent reports, exploring multiple design options, two public consultations and a detailed planning application.”
