Sheffield: Work under way to preserve historic dams

Work is under way to preserve two historic Sheffield dams, one of which is at risk of collapse if no repairs are carried out.

Almost £670,000 will be spent to fix leaks at the four-acre Abbeydale Dam at Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet.

A council report said if the issue was not addressed, "further deterioration could lead to collapse of the dam".

The authority will also spend £46,300 to remedy leaks at popular city beauty spot Forge Dam.

The dam off Abbeydale Road was built to power Abbeydale Works, which was once the biggest water-powered industrial site on the River Sheaf.

Today the dam continues to power the waterwheels and is home to a wide range of local wildlife.

A report to Sheffield City Council's finance committee said the water in the dam had to be lowered temporarily to help stop the leaks, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

As well as warning of potential collapse, the report said the leaks were affecting some of the nearby historic buildings.

Councillor Bryan Lodge told the meeting on Monday: "From memory, this must be about the third time that we have done work on the dam.

"I just hope we're going to get to the bottom of it because we seem to have been spending large amounts of money over the last few years trying to resolve it."

The committee also agreed to spend money to fix the sluice gate at Forge Dam in the Porter Valley.

The dam was originally a mill pond - part of the water power system that operated a forge built by 18th Century industrialist Thomas Boulsover for his son-in-law, Joseph Mitchell.

It is now part of Forge Dam Park, which is a well-known spot for families and walkers.

The meeting heard the money would fund works needed to install a mechanism to operate the sluice gate, which the report said would have multiple benefits on the downstream environment.

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