VIDEO – RAF CHINOOK DEPLOYED TO HELP ‘CRITICAL’ WHALEY BRIDGE DAM

WHALEY BRIDGE, ENGLAND – Since Thursday August 1, a section of wall on the 188 years old Whaley Bridge Dam has collapsed. The structure was at a ‘critical’ point and engineers feared the dam could collapse. 6000 residents from Whaley Bridge were evacuated as a precaution. A RAF Chinook helicopter was deployed to drop 400 tonnes of aggregate into the damaged area, and specialist contractors added concrete grouting between the bags of ballast to bind them together to support the spillway. For now – 5 days after the evacuation – the situation seems to be under control, although it was a pretty close call.