When we last reported on the failure at Lock 38, Penkridge, the situation was still very much uncertain. The bywash culvert beside the lock and beneath Cannock Road had collapsed, leaving debris in the lock tail, creating a void below ground and raising concerns not only for navigation but also for the adjacent road and nearby property.

At that stage, the canal remained closed between Filance Lock and Penkridge Lock. Stop planks were in place to retain upstream water levels, and Lock 37 was being managed as part of the wider water-control arrangements. The towpath remained open, but there was no confirmed reopening date.

Since then, progress has been steady, if not straightforward.

The work has proved to be more complicated than simply clearing a blockage and reopening the canal. CRT’s updates describe a job involving deep excavation, difficult access, hidden services, a collapsed and partly obstructed culvert, confined working conditions, water-jet cutting, the manual removal of material, brickwork repairs, and the design and manufacture of a new liner.

In other words, exactly the sort of awkward, unglamorous canal engineering that only becomes visible when it fails.

Early in February, jetting works confirmed a further blockage across the original line of the culvert. This was not a small obstruction. CRT described it as a mass of brickwork approximately four metres by three metres in size. Attempts to cut through it from within the culvert were only partly successful, and specialist contractors could not identify equipment small enough to operate effectively inside the culvert itself.

The solution was to go down from above.

This required excavation through the road, which in turn required permits from the Council before work could begin. That caused some delay, but excavation started in mid-February.

The job was made more difficult by the presence of existing services, including power and BT cables, which had to be exposed and worked around without interruption wherever possible. A temporary works design was also needed to support the excavation safely and provide access for those working below ground.

By late February, the excavation had reached a depth of around 2.3 metres, with a further 1.7 metres still to go. Unexpectedly, a second road surface was found beneath the present one, suggesting that the road level had been raised at some point in the past. This added another complication, as the team had expected to find more easily excavated infill beneath the current road surface.

By early March, the excavation had reached approximately four metres and the original culvert had been fully exposed. To gain access to the blockage, the outer wall of the culvert was carefully cut using concrete saws, creating what CRT described as a large “letterbox” opening. From there, the blockage could finally be seen.

The next task was to break through it. Water-jet cutting was used to create a route through the obstruction and debris. This was a new method for CRT in this type of situation and, given the circumstances, appears to have been a successful choice.

By 20 March, the team had managed to cut through the obstructions along the line of the culvert and pass a camera all the way through. Further jetting was then required to enlarge the route sufficiently to accept the liner.

The work also revealed that the culvert was not of a consistent diameter. It varied between around 725mm and 900mm, rather than being a uniform 900mm as originally expected. That ruled out the use of an 800mm liner from another project, because an ill-fitting liner could wrinkle and create future problems.

A new, purpose-designed liner therefore had to be ordered and manufactured to meet highways requirements. That may sound like an irritating delay, but it was probably a wise one. A hurried repair to a hidden structure beneath a road, beside a lock and close to property is not the sort of thing anyone wants to revisit in a few years’ time.

By 26 March, CRT reported that the route of the bywash culvert had been cleared to the required size in preparation for installation of the liner. Material washed into the canal bed around the site of the failure had also been removed, and brickwork repairs were continuing.

There was also a pleasing heritage detail in the March updates. Taking advantage of the road closure and favourable weather, CRT carried out repairs to the bridge parapet using lime mortar, working sympathetically with the existing bricks and stone copings and recognising the site’s position within the local conservation area.

It is a small point in the context of a major stoppage, but an important one. Repairs to working waterways are not simply engineering jobs; they are also part of the continuing care of historic structures.

By 10 April, the most encouraging update had arrived. CRT reported that good progress had been made and that the bywash culvert liner had been installed and was awaiting grouting. Grouting was planned for 13 and 14 April, subject to the delivery of materials.

Once this was complete, time would still be needed to remove the temporary works, including the dam, pumping pipework, stop planks and fencing, before the lock could be reopened safely.

Filance Lock was expected to be unlocked on 15 or 16 April, although navigation would remain closed while the downstream pound was refilled to its operating level. This was intended to allow moored boats to refloat and reduce the risk of grounding. Boaters were asked not to attempt to enter or leave their moorings until 5pm on 17 April.

Most importantly, Penkridge Lock was programmed to reopen ahead of schedule on 17 April 2026, with CRT stating at the time that there were no foreseeable risks to that date. Cannock Road over Penkridge Bridge, however, was still expected to remain closed until 1 May.

Assuming that the reopening was achieved as planned, this is clearly good news. A closure that originally looked likely to run into May appears to have been shortened, despite the difficulties encountered.

It is also a reminder that emergency repairs are rarely linear. Each stage reveals the next problem: first the debris, then the void, then the services, then the depth, then the second road surface, then the blockage, then the variable culvert diameter, and finally the need for a bespoke liner.

For boaters, the obvious frustration is the stoppage itself. For those moored between Lock 37 and Lock 38, the issue was more immediate: water levels, access, refloating and the need to coordinate any movement with CRT. For road users and local residents, the problem extended beyond the canal entirely.

That was one of the central points in last month’s article, and the failure at Penkridge has reinforced it rather than weakened it.

A bywash culvert is not glamorous. Most people never notice one until it fails. Yet here, one hidden structure affected a lock, a bridge, a road, nearby property, moored boats, navigation and local traffic. That is quite a lot of consequence arising from something largely out of sight.

There is a wider lesson here. We often talk about the canal network as though its age is a picturesque feature. In many ways, it is. The locks, bridges, cottages, stonework and brickwork are a large part of why people care about the waterways.

But age is also a maintenance burden. Structures built, rebuilt, patched, altered and buried over generations do not always behave in predictable ways. Records are incomplete, alignments are not always obvious, and what appears from above to be a modest problem may conceal a much larger one below ground.

Penkridge also sits alongside other recent failures, including Whitchurch and the Bridgewater Canal breach, as part of a pattern that should make all waterways supporters pause. These are not simply boating inconveniences. They are failures of ageing infrastructure, with consequences for homes, roads, water supplies, businesses and local communities.

That does not mean every stoppage should become an excuse for easy criticism. The work at Penkridge appears to have been technically difficult and, from the updates provided, was handled with steady progress once the nature of the problem was understood.

It does, however, underline the importance of long-term inspection, maintenance and funding. The canal network cannot be preserved by sentiment alone.

For now, the immediate news is positive. The liner has been installed, grouting is planned, the pound is due to be refilled, and navigation is programmed to reopen earlier than expected.