Society members will be aware that the Environment Agency made funding available for the construction and installation of a new bridge across the entrance of the Dry Dock opposite the Winwick Maintenance yard. The work has now been carried out by contractors acting for Warrington Borough Council.

The dock lies at right angles to the canal's course and was closed off by a pair of mitre gates and drained at its opposite end by a simple sluice mechanism. When the canal was in use the tow path followed the western side of the canal at this point and therefore needed some method to allow the haulage teams to cross the gap leading into the dock. A bridge was installed which spent most of its time allowing this tow path access but when a boat needed to use the dock the bridge would have had to have been moved out of the way.

This is where the problems start. Only two photographs have been located to date which show the bridge and neither provides any clue as to how the bridge was moved. One has a large vertical post set into the ground with a diagonal timber bracing it but there is no indication of chains or wire which would have lifted the bridge clear of the gap.

With such a lack of information it has therefore not been possible to duplicate the original bridge. Instead, a standard, timber-decked bridge with metal rails has been constructed off site, similar to the one installed at Penketh. Work took place on the dock entrance, casting new edges and supports for the bridge then the bridge was delivered on site and craned over the fence into position. One end of the bridge is fixed to two rotating steel pins so that it can be lifted in the same way as a castle draw-bridge. The mechanism to do this will be installed only when the canal is restored to water.

Contractors are still to paint the structure, and SCARS volunteers are to realign the tow path and fencing which presently seal off the dock and the bridge from public access. Funding is available specifically for an interpretation board then the site will become one of a number of features of canal heritage in this area.