Flood during Manchester Ship Canal construction

General flooding of the cuttings proved to be the most serious misadventure experienced during the whole construction of the works. On the Latchford section, a sudden spate in the River Dane,  caused the destruction of a temporary dam, thereby admitting  the River Mersey, itself in a flood, and laying about five miles of half finished cutting under thirty feet of water.  Early in the previous summer, a tunnel had been driven underneath the Warrington and Stockport railway at Latchford to admit the passage of spoil wagons from one cutting to the other.

The rush of the flood waters through the heading washed away a considerable portion of its roof and undermined the North Western Line. This view, taken on the day of the accident, looking down stream, shows the remarkable condition in which the contractor's railway was left festooned across the gap caused by the collapse of the tunnel.