Gravel barges make the news.

[Alan de Enfield]

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/second-barge-drafted-carry-freight-city-demand-grows-3023720

 

 

Second barge drafted in to carry freight to city as demand grows

A second barge has been drafted in to carry grit sand on the canal system into Leeds to meet rising demand.

 

[Naughty Cal]

Good news for the A&C.

[Mike Todd]

Is that really correct? I thought from what has been said here just a while back that the additional boat was the result of dredging/depth issues and was in order to fulfil the original order.

 

Good to see it happening, anyway.

[fanshaft]

On 04/11/2020 at 08:29, Mike Todd said:

Is that really correct? I thought from what has been said here just a while back that the additional boat was the result of dredging/depth issues and was in order to fulfil the original order.

 

Good to see it happening, anyway.

It was always the intention to have two barges on the traffic after the first few trips in order to provide back up and to cope with increased demand as it begins to happen. 

Regards David L

[peterboat]

12 hours ago, fanshaft said:

It was always the intention to have two barges on the traffic after the first few trips in order to provide back up and to cope with increased demand as it begins to happen. 

Regards David L

I thought they had 3 barges? they did last time I was at goole I am sure, they had been painted up and then left to rot for a couple or more years when CRT were playing silly buggers

[fanshaft]

1 hour ago, peterboat said:

I thought they had 3 barges? they did last time I was at goole I am sure, they had been painted up and then left to rot for a couple or more years when CRT were playing silly buggers

The three Branford barges (and others) were laid up when the aggregate traffic from Besthorpe to Whitwood finished in 2013.   Lafarge made it clear that the cessation of this traffic was no reflection on the service provided by British Waterways or the carriers.  The marine aggregate project has taken 14 years to bring to fruition not because of any fault of BW or CRT or CBOA or anyone but simply waiting for the material to become competitive in the Leeds area which has now begun  to be the case. It was hoped to supply a new development at Fleet Lane wharf a couple of years ago but this has failed to get off the ground for reasons that are not clear, and the development appears to be stalled.   The Trust was approached for use of Knostrop wharf in late 2019 which, being protected, was not a problem (other than needing dredging) but there was no storage space as the whole site had been let out on short term leases to various companies as is permitted by Leeds City Council under the wharf protection arrangement. Fortunately one of the tenants, the one nearest the open wharf, kindly agreed to give up some space but for various reasons this took some time to arrange - partly because a traffic study was needed to ensure the extra vehicle movements would be safe in what is already a busy site, and then Covid intervened.  I am not sure what 'silly buggers' CRT was playing at for two years.

The AC Marine Aggregates traffic is shared 50/50 between Branford Barge Owners and Humber Barges Ltd hence one barge from each company being used.

Hope that clarifies!

regards David L

[peterboat]

13 minutes ago, fanshaft said:

The three Branford barges (and others) were laid up when the aggregate traffic from Besthorpe to Whitwood finished in 2013.   Lafarge made it clear that the cessation of this traffic was no reflection on the service provided by British Waterways or the carriers.  The marine aggregate project has taken 14 years to bring to fruition not because of any fault of BW or CRT or CBOA or anyone but simply waiting for the material to become competitive in the Leeds area which has now begun  to be the case. It was hoped to supply a new development at Fleet Lane wharf a couple of years ago but this has failed to get off the ground for reasons that are not clear, and the development appears to be stalled.   The Trust was approached for use of Knostrop wharf in late 2019 which, being protected, was not a problem (other than needing dredging) but there was no storage space as the whole site had been let out on short term leases to various companies as is permitted by Leeds City Council under the wharf protection arrangement. Fortunately one of the tenants, the one nearest the open wharf, kindly agreed to give up some space but for various reasons this took some time to arrange - partly because a traffic study was needed to ensure the extra vehicle movements would be safe in what is already a busy site, and then Covid intervened.  I am not sure what 'silly buggers' CRT was playing at for two years.

The AC Marine Aggregates traffic is shared 50/50 between Branford Barge Owners and Humber Barges Ltd hence one barge from each company being used.

Hope that clarifies!

regards David L

I thought their was 3 companies involved? hence the 3 barges at Goole? Also this was announced years ago in all the watterways comics so the boats were painted up then left for years, I know John Dean Jnr has been skippering Fusedale H on the river passage to Goole, he has commented that the barges are running light and Fusedale H is very slow, As for Fleet lane did not CRT remove the berth maybe thats why it couldnt get of the ground?

[Tam & Di]

I'd have thought that David was a pretty authoritative source on this, given his 'Boat Name' details.

 

Tam

[fanshaft]

56 minutes ago, peterboat said:

I thought their was 3 companies involved? hence the 3 barges at Goole? Also this was announced years ago in all the watterways comics so the boats were painted up then left for years, I know John Dean Jnr has been skippering Fusedale H on the river passage to Goole, he has commented that the barges are running light and Fusedale H is very slow, As for Fleet lane did not CRT remove the berth maybe thats why it couldnt get of the ground?

Yes there was an announcement about two years ago when the new owners of the former Fleet oil terminal said they would start taking aggregate to Fleet Lane (Woodlesford)  which they had acquired from Certas, the previous operators there (ex Bayfords).  CRT ran a quick dredging programme and barges were got ready but then it didn't happen.  The berth at Fleet Lane remains but we don't know what is to happen.  None of this was anything to do with the Trust.

John Dean did skipper Fusedale on the first trip to Hull and back. Fusedale H has the original 240 hp 8 cylinder Kelvin and is a bit slow in deep water compared to Farndale with its 440 hp engine though we hope to get a bit more power out of the Kelvin.  Loads are limited to 6 ft 6 in draught until dredging is completed below Lemonroyd (a long standing issue connected to the design of the weir and artificial river after the St Aidan's mine flooded) and regular plough dredging will be needed to keep the channel here.  The other spot needing dredging is Thwaite Mill to Knostrop Fall lock which silted up following the last major floods - hopefully that will be a 'one off' though disposal of contaminated silt will be costly.

Kind regards

David L

10 minutes ago, Tam & Di said:

I'd have thought that David was a pretty authoritative source on this, given his 'Boat Name' details.

 

Tam

Haha!! You spotted......

best wishes D.