Cardiff canal hidden for 70 years uncovered in city centre

A canal hidden for more than 70 years has been uncovered and opened in Cardiff.

For almost two years, work has been underway to reopen the Churchill Way dock feeder, built over in the 1940s.

It forms part of plans to create a canal quarter in the capital.

The council said the redesigned space will help manage traffic flow and surface water drainage in the city centre.

Council strategic planning and transport member, Dan De'Ath, said the feeder was the first stage of a regeneration scheme.

He expected it to attract new businesses and the building of new homes.

"The dock feeder should act as a catalyst for private sector investment creating jobs and opportunities in the east of the city centre," he said.

He said a series of "rain gardens" had been built which would remove pollutants from surface water before it flowed into the canal.

"This will ensure that 3,700 m2 of water will be diverted away from the sewage system each year," he said.

Built 180 years ago, most of the dock feeder has been hidden underground since being covered.

Nearly 70 concrete beams weighing 7.5 tonnes each were removed during the restoration.

Knights Brown Construction, which carried out the restoration called the job "intense".

Cardiff once had a vast network of waterways stretching through the city, including the 25-mile Glamorganshire Canal.

That ran from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff and brought steel and iron into the capital.

During the industrial revolution, a three-mile-long canal was built to supply water to Cardiff docks so it could operate at low tide.

This gave the city one of the world's first 24-hour docks and led to its rapid 19th Century expansion.

By 1900, the railways had taken over. Only a small number of canals remain profitable today.

Barber Andrew Lazarou, who runs a shop next to the dock feeder, said that part of the city had been forgotten since the second part of St David's shopping centre opened.

"I hope it's going to bring a lot of business and a lot more bars and restaurants," he said.