WM Regional User Forum May 2021 Questions & Answers

Who is responsible for the safety aspects of bridges over the ? Primarily rural Q.1 and farm bridge etc. There are quite a few times I have been under them and the bridge work is in a very dire state of repair. Who is responsible to inspect them and make sure they are safe? Sally Boddy (Regional Engineer): I have a team of 8 asset inspectors that walk the whole patch every 2 months. It is their job to notice any change in these structures. So, if they see something they are concerned about they will feed that back to the engineer who looks after that section of , who will then inspect it and seek other advice if needed. Sometimes our bridges look worse that they are, but I would reassure you that we are keeping an eye on everything. But if you do spot something that has changed that concerns you, please let us know as we will always investigate. We don’t own all of the bridges that go across our canals, but whether it is our responsibility or not we keep an eye on all of them and will let the correct owners know to take action when needed.

Q.2 Where can we access the City of Culture mooring strategy, please?

Matthew Symonds (National Boating Manager): A map with details of the visitor moorings for Basin and how to book them are on the website here https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/where-we-work/west-midlands/celebrating-coventry-uk- city-of-culture-2021 This will also be communicated through Boaters’ Update and through regional communication before the pre-book moorings in Coventry Basin go live, but the Drapers Field visitor moorings, starting immediately after Bridge 1, will not require booking. The boater facilities in the basin will also remain open to all visiting boaters. I am on the Coventry now. Nice tarmac towpath but the canal is full of litter. Q.3 Tarmac path is not in keeping.

Adnan Saif ( Director): This is not the finished article for the tarmac towpath. A topping should be added soon.

Q.4 How does canal dredging affect the water management?

Charles Hughes (Environmental Scientist): Good question, dredging is very important as it increases the volume capacity of the canal. Too much siltation can mean we lose more water than we would like!

Q.5 I understand the Mersey ferry trips along Manchester Ship Canal can no longer reach Salford Quays due to lack of dredging. Not sure if this is relevant for this forum?

Adam Comerford (National Hydrology Manager): Canal dredging is important in terms of maintaining navigable depth, but often the critical limiting factor will be lock cill levels - this will define operating draft for a given canal section. Dredging any lower than this will be ineffective, as it is "dead storage". Some canal pounds were originally constructed to be deeper, so that they could act as linear reservoirs, allowing water levels to drop through the busier periods of freight carrying (or summer months, nowadays, for leisure craft).

Q.6 Are canoes & paddleboards allowed in Gosty Hill Tunnel? Matthew Symonds (National Boating Manager): Canoes are permitted in Gosty Tunnel, the tunnels where they are permitted along with the requirements are available here https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/canoeing-and-kayaking/canoeing-through- tunnels I live in Acocks Green and there is an awful lot of graffiti that appears to be getting worse and worse. Bridge 86 on the for example is a listed building Q.7 and volunteers are having difficulty knowing how to clean it off. Is there a program for the Commonwealth Games to clear off graffiti?

Adnan Saif (West Midlands Director): That particular spot has been highlighted to us and because it is a listed structure, we have to organise specialised removal. It is definitely on our radar and will be tackled soon. Over the lockdown period we have had 2 major problems, increase in graffiti and fly tipping. So now as volunteers come back in, we are completely focused on tackling these issues.

Q.8 Has abstraction now resumed from Chasewater?

Adam Comerford (National Hydrology Manager): Sadly, the answer is no. We are still in conversation with Staffordshire County Council. The abstraction at Chasewater is complicated by the fact that Chasewater is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). So, we are working closely with Natural England (the ecological regulator of the SSSI). We are trying to balance the potential impact that it would have on the SSSI within Chasewater with the fact that the canal itself has environmental importance designations. At the moment it’s a normal and average year and we don’t have to have access to that water, but it comes at a cost. When we are not using Chasewater Reservoir, we use pumps which costs a lot of money operationally to meet that demand for water. We are continuing that dialog with Staffordshire Country Council to make sure we get access to the reservoir long term.

As I understand, the canal network was designed so that in flood events it would be self- Q.9 managing and sensor overspill weirs. So rather than overspilling onto the towpath or banks, the overspill weirs would take that flow and carry it away safely. Yet we have seen a number of events where heavy rain or a boater/ or vandal leaving paddles open has caused overspill onto the towpath or bank which then washes away and then causing a major breach. Is that simply a matter of not investing and maintaining those banks?

Adam Comerford (National Hydrology Manager): This is a complicated one. The original canal construction would involve waste weirs which were often installed after a bad event. We are facing extreme forms of weather, some of the events we have had in the last decade have been off the scale in terms of intensity due to record rain falls and duration of events. So, we are having to get used to those extremes of weather. Those waste weirs will have a finite capacity before the water level keeps on rising and then spilling over. In terms of how we have tried to tackle this, maintaining, and managing the weirs is important as well as sluices.

Q.10 There is need for remedial work at Tyrley Lock 1 (Top Lock), where the bottom gates are leaking so badly it is very difficult to open the top gate. As this lock is on a very popular cruising route we would ask when repairs are scheduled to take place?

Sally Boddy (Regional Engineer): The Team attempted a repair last winter. Unfortunately, because the lock doesn’t have stop plank grooves which would have enabled us to quickly dam off the lock, and because of heavy storm flows entering the pound below the lock, we were unable to reduce the level in the canal sufficiently to enable us to repair the damaged cill. To enable us to fully dewater the canal, a coffer dam will therefore need to be installed. This will mean that the canal will need to be closed. We realise the Shropshire Union is a very popular canal so we are hoping that we can avoid closing the canal until the winter stoppage period, when we have programmed to undertake the dewatering of the canal to facilitate the repairs to the damaged cill.

Q.11 Concerns about safety in regard to canoes and paddleboards in tunnels.

Becky Whitehouse (Regional Operations Manager): Where we have tunnels under 400m with a sightline you can see, there are certain allowances for paddleboard and canoes. Anything over 400m is a no, due to not having a sightline. What I would say is we have risk assessed all tunnels under 400m to see if we can allow the use of unpowered craft in them, for example Chirk tunnel and Whitehouse Tunnel, which were deemed safe.

Q.12 I would like to ask if we can please have an update on the plans for replacement/rebuilding of Bridge 37 at Hazelhurst on the Caldon Canal? Adnan Saif (West Midlands Director): We wanted to get started with it straight away, but getting the right option agreed and approved means it may not be concluded until May next year. Depending on which option is approved, the build time could take up to 40 weeks - hopefully less with our preferred option. So we are definitely on it, the work is carrying on, the design team and contractors have been doing all the site visits. I’m not sure how long the canal would be closed for as of yet, but naturally we will try to minimise it and hopefully do the majority of the work out of season.