New aerial photos show the huge bridge spanning both carriageways of the busy motorway – but bizarrely has nothing either side. To most motorists the huge structure seems pointless, but in fact the bridge was built in 2003 as an aqueduct to carry the yet-to-be-restored Lichfield Canal.
But after TWO DECADES the bridge, located between junctions T5 and T6 in Staffordshire, is still a work in progress because the canal still hasn’t been restored.
Work has been going onto restore the Lichfield Canal since 1990 and the M6 Toll would have cut across the route, so when the new road was built the owners, Midland Expressway Limited, funded and built the bridge foundations.
The rest of the structure was paid for by the Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration.
Work to restore the canal is still on-going but unlikely to be completed any time soon due to funding issues and land ownership, with at least £40 million needed to complete the project.
In the meantime, the aqueduct is left waiting to be connected to the waterway.
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