Modelling the Manchester Ship Canal

One of the great engineering projects of the Victorian era, the Manchester Ship Canal extends for 55 km from central Manchester to the Mersey estuary on England's northwest coast. In addition to providing navigation to Manchester for ocean-going ships, the canal drains a total catchment of over 3000 km(2). As such, the canal plays a vital role in the prevention of flooding in central Manchester and Warrington. Despite its importance in terms of flood relief, the unique character and ownership of the canal have left it excluded from legislation regarding flood management. Unlike the majority of rivers, no model of the canal had ever been constructed, leaving a missing piece in the puzzle of flood management in the northwest. This paper describes the creation of a one-dimensional ISIS hydrodynamic model of the canal and the testing of a range of flood scenarios with that model.