Coventry Basin air draught question

[MartinV]

Hello all

 

Can anyone that's recently been down to Coventry Basin tell me roughly what the air draught was (in relative terms of their own boat)? The crt canal dimensions document I've found says 1.7m / 5ft 7" but I was wondering if anyone with a higher draught has got through in the current conditions?

 

Many thanks

 

Martin

[Graham and Jo]

Our cratch is about 6 feet 2 inches and we got into the basin. No problems at all. Cheers Graham

[Alan de Enfield]

49 minutes ago, MartinV said:

Hello all

 

Can anyone that's recently been down to Coventry Basin tell me roughly what the air draught was (in relative terms of their own boat)? The crt canal dimensions document I've found says 1.7m / 5ft 7" but I was wondering if anyone with a higher draught has got through in the current conditions?

 

Many thanks

 

Martin

C&RT Document

 

Dimension Data The data published in this document is the Canal & River Trust's estimate of the dimensions of our waterways based upon local knowledge and expertise. Whilst the Canal & River Trust anticipates that this data is reasonably accurate, we cannot guarantee its precision. Therefore, this data should only be used as a helpful guide and you should always use your own judgement taking into account local circumstances at any particular time.

 

Coventry Canal

Fradley Junction to Coventry 

Headroom - - - 2.25m - - - 7.38ft

Edited August 21, 2020 by Alan de Enfield

[MartinV]

17 minutes ago, Graham and Jo said:

Our cratch is about 6 feet 2 inches and we got into the basin. No problems at all. 

Cheers! Really appreciate the info - we're 6ft 7" (going to measure again tomorrow to confirm that though)... fingers crossed!!

[MartinV]

17 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

C&RT Document

 

Dimension Data The data published in this document is the Canal & River Trust's estimate of the dimensions of our waterways based upon local knowledge and expertise. Whilst the Canal & River Trust anticipates that this data is reasonably accurate, we cannot guarantee its precision. Therefore, this data should only be used as a helpful guide and you should always use your own judgement taking into account local circumstances at any particular time.

 

Coventry Canal

Fradley Junction to Coventry 

Headroom - - - 2.25m - - - 7.38ft

Cheers - I found a different  crt doc which said 1.7m (https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/original/32433-waterway-dimensions.pdf) hence checking. Thanks. Martin

[Captain Pegg]

13 hours ago, MartinV said:

Cheers - I found a different  crt doc which said 1.7m (https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/original/32433-waterway-dimensions.pdf) hence checking. Thanks. Martin

The two dimensions are not necessarily contradictory.

 

The CRT minimum craft dimensions have to be read in combination and it’s important to recognise they describe both a size and shape of craft and not the size of aperture in a bridge.

 

What those particular dimensions say is that if your boat height does not exceed 5’ 7” in height at any point across a width of 7’ then you will be able to fit under all the bridges between Fradley and Coventry.

 

It’s not totally clear what the other dimension relates to but let’s assume it is the maximum clearance available beneath the lowest bridge at normal water level. What that tells you is that you will not be able to transit all the way between Fradley and Coventry if any point of your boat exceeds 7.38’ in height.

 

So if you have a boat that is between 5’ 7” and 7.38’ in height but only over part of it’s width then you might fit through all the bridges. 
 

So we can categorically say that you might fit. Very helpful I’m sure.
 

In truth it’s pretty much impossible to publish dimensions that are anything other than the a conservative guide to what’s possible since no boat is a literal brick shape and every craft has a set of unique measurements in three dimensions as does every structure on the waterways. The only way to find out for certain if you are outside of any one of CRTs published maximum craft dimensions is to go there and try.

 

JP

Edited August 22, 2020 by Captain Pegg

[alias]

1 hour ago, Captain Pegg said:

In truth it’s pretty much impossible to publish dimensions that are anything other than the a conservative guide to what’s possible since no boat is a literal brick shape and every craft has a set of unique dimensions in three dimensions as does every structure on the waterways. The only way to find out for certain if you are outside of any one of CRTs published maximum craft dimensions is to go there and try.

With that in mind a comparison might be helpful.  Our boat fits under the bridge into Coventry basin, but will only just fit under the bridges going into Stratford Basin without removing things.  Of course water levels may vary...

[Captain Pegg]

Surprisingly the headroom of the Coventry Canal is the limiting value for the entire CRT network. So it likely does relate to Bridge 1.

 

The composite measurements for CRT’s connected network are 56’ 11” long (Ripon canal) x 6’ 10” wide (Llangollen canal) x 2’ 3” draught (Ribble link) x 5’ 7” high (Coventry canal).

I’ll wager there are many boats that breach at least one of those dimensions that have covered all of those points. Which demonstrates they are pretty meaningless values in isolation.

 

JP

Edited August 22, 2020 by Captain Pegg

[KenK]

15 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

Surprisingly the headroom of the Coventry Canal is the limiting value for the entire CRT network. So it likely does relate to Bridge 1.

 

The composite measurements for CRT’s connected network are 56’ 11” long (Ripon canal) x 6’ 10” wide (Llangollen canal) x 2’ 3” draught (Ribble link) x 5’ 7” high (Coventry canal).

I’ll wager there are many boats that breach at least one of those dimensions that have covered all of those points. Which demonstrates they are pretty meaningless values in isolation.

 

JP

We took our 60 ft narrowboat to Ripon no problem except the top lock on the return trip has an odd cill which made getting out of the lock interesting, needed a bit of brute force to get the gates open.

[Captain Pegg]

To add to the above CRT do not publish details for Dudley Tunnel which at the extremes of the 7’ maximum beam is a minimum of 4’ 2” high and only 5’ 5” minimum overall height.