Gloucestershire canal restoration project will see 'Ocean' refilled

[Alan de Enfield]

Gloucestershire canal restoration project will see 'Ocean' refilled - Gloucestershire Live

 

A new railway bridge will allow boats access to the Stroudwater Navigation in Stonehouse again

 

 

 

The 'Ocean' is to be filled again with water as part of the restoration project for a Gloucestershire canal. The drained section of the Stroudwater Navigation in Stonehouse will be refilled now the railway bridge over the canal has been replaced by Network Rail.

The previous bridge was too narrow to allow boats to pass underneath. The new bridge means the stretch of the navigation is now navigable again, as part of the Cotswold Canals Connected project.

 

fter the replacement of the bridge, which took place between Christmas and the new year, further works to the area have taken place, including installing concrete units to form the new towpath, lining the canal bed under the bridge with clay, planting trees, re-seeding the embankment, and removing machinery from the compound. The gradual refilling of the drained section of canal known as the Ocean will start tomorrow (Friday, April 1) and will take several days. An ecologist will be present to ensure the safety of wildlife.

 

Once the canal is refilled, the system of water pipes and pumps will be removed, allowing contractors and volunteers to carry out work on the towpath between Ocean and Bonds Mill. The current towpath which consists of compacted earth will be replaced with stone, timber edging will be installed, and overgrown vegetation cut back. The towpath will remain closed until mid-May and the alternative walking and cycling route will continue.

[Stroudwater1]

It’s full!  but the towpath won’t be open till May, special opening is planned I believe 

 

 

some dredging- I think once drier the dredgings are sold as soil improvement 

 

 

 

[RichM]

42 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

It’s full!  but the towpath won’t be open till May, special opening is planned I believe 

 

 

some dredging- I think once drier the dredgings are sold as soil improvement 

 

 

 

 

What an improvement! Thanks for sharing

[Hudds Lad]

On 31/03/2022 at 17:41, Alan de Enfield said:

An ecologist will be present to ensure the safety of wildlife.

 

I’m intrigued as to what said ecologist will actually be doing to ensure this? A bit of hand-wringing? Waving arms? Mild shouting at workmen?

[Heartland]

An ecologist in these times has considerable power, all this work could be for nothing if a rare form of life is found. The care for ecology with the CRT closely associated with well being is a factor that influences restoration. It seems that the days of projects like the Droitwich Dig would fail, if undertaken today, as the ecologist is there in order to protect the flora and faunan that comes to a disused waterway and of course profits from fees that a restoration scheme has little surplus funds to cover.

 

It is a thought worth considering that the Montgomery Canal might be linked from Welshpool to the main network were it not for the ecologist protecting the rights of the crested newt. Being versatile amphibians, a question that can be asked was the threat to their habitat so serious to ensure the regulations imposed that has so effectively slowed the restoration of that waterway