construction started in november 1759, with smeaton acting as engineer. by november 1764, the navigation was open as far as brighouse, some from wakefield. having borrowed £56,000, factions arose within the commissioners, with some wanting to stop at brooksmouth, where the rivers hebble and calder meet, and others wanting to raise more money and complete the scheme. the second option gained most support, and a new committee was set up, who asked james brindley to take over from smeaton in 1765. the work was nearly completed by 1767, but serious floods in october caused some damage, with further damage caused by more floods in february 1768. brindley appears to have left by mid-1766, and the commissioners re-appointed smeaton in 1768, to complete the work. banks were repaired and floodgates built at the start of some of the cuts. the work was just complete when a further flood caused so much damage that the only option was to close the navigation again.