The Big Pipe was installed in the 1960s to carry both steady spring water and storm runoff through the old canal route after it was closed to navigation.
The original canal used to be fed by a base flow of clean, steady spring water coming from underground near St John’s, around locks 20 to 22. It also helped collect rainwater and runoff from southern Lichfield whenever it rained heavily.
When the canal was closed to navigation in 1954, a ‘waterway’ had to be replicated to continue carrying both the steady base flow and the heavier flows during rainfall. So, in the 1960s, a 27-inch diameter Big Pipe was installed in the canal bed, downstream of Shortbutts Lane. This allowed the canal channel to be filled in, while still providing a way for surplus water to safely flow into the Darnford Brook, near Borrowcop Locks and onward to Huddlesford.
As we restore the canal, we therefore have to remove sections of the Big Pipe but also contend with the base and peak flows (during and following rainfall) as part of our construction methodology.