Land Slip - Easenhall Cutting, Brinklow, Oxford Canal

[MtB]

15 minutes ago, Ronaldo47 said:

I would think that the land slip would be considered to be an Act of God as it is not a result of positive action by the landowner. 

 

Were I that farmer up at the top, I'd be arguing that my land would not have slipped away had CRT's predecessors not carved out that channel for the canal. 

 

Maybe CRT's argument back would be it wasn't them did it! 

[john.k]

Id think once the material was removed from the base ,then the landholder might have a good claim if and when there was a further slip.................I see mentioned 4000 tons to be removed ,which would be 1000 cu /m give or take.

[alias]

9 minutes ago, john.k said:

Id think once the material was removed from the base ,then the landholder might have a good claim if and when there was a further slip.................I see mentioned 4000 tons to be removed ,which would be 1000 cu /m give or take.

 

If memory serves there was a slip onto the towpath in the same location in 2020, and they installed those gabions next to the towpath as part of the remediation work.  I suspect that the adequacy of that remediation work might receive some scrutiny if any dispute developed between CRT and their neighbour.

[David Mack]

6 hours ago, MtB said:

So CRT could be on the hook for many more £millions to support the land at the top, beyond just the cost of digging the mud out of the cut.

More likely they would end up buying a strip of land beyond the current boundary so that the cutting can be reprofiled to a shallower slope.

2 hours ago, john.k said:

.I see mentioned 4000 tons to be removed ,which would be 1000 cu /m give or take.

More like 2500 cubic metres.

2 hours ago, alias said:

If memory serves there was a slip onto the towpath in the same location in 2020,

There are slips visible in the photo from the 1910s linked earlier in this thread.

https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/catalogue_wow/brinklow-easenhall-cutting-oxford-canal

Edited March 14 by David Mack

[ditchcrawler]

How about this one then Homeowners left 'living on the edge of a cliff' after giant landslide destroys gardens | Watch (msn.com)

Homeowners left 'living on the edge of a cliff' after giant landslide destroys gardens

 

Residents have been left 'living on the edge of a cliff' and fear their homes could be lost after a giant landslide began slowly destroying their gardens. Locals in the landlocked Black Country town of Cradley Heath say they feel like they're living by the coast after their gardens began crumbling into a huge chasm. The massive landslip gets bigger every time it rains and destroyed multiple trees and two sheds in the last year along High Haden Crescent. Recent bad weather has seen even more land crumbling away leaving homeowners worried for the safety of their families. John Hingley, 42, has seen the expanding landslip get worse year-by-year since since moving into his home a decade ago. He said: "I've seen trees disappear looking out my bedroom window, and I've seen two sheds disappear too. "And it keeps getting worse, two days ago it got even bigger and even closer to my land. "When it rains the land turns into clay and chunks just fall down the slope." Residents claim the land started collapsing when a factory was built over 30 years ago but John had no knowledge when he bought the house. John added: "I didn't know anything about it until a neighbour knocked my door after we moved in and told us about the problem. "I've got workmen in and they all say the job is just too big for them or their company to deal with. "A lot of my neighbours are elderly so can't do anything for themselves which makes it all the more difficult for me to try and fight it off on my own. "People who have lived round here years reckon the land started to slide when the factory was built down the bottom. "But for years it stayed the same but then over last few years it has just got bigger and bigger. "We have contacted councillors, the MP, you name it but never seem to find out who's fault it is and who is liable." Residents are trying to find out who is responsible for the land and Sandwell Council are aware of the situation. Another homeowner Henry Robinson, 55, added: "It feels like you're living by the coast and one of those people worried about their house falling into the sea. "There you sort of know what you're getting into but we couldn't be further away from the sea in the West Midlands, so it's been a real shock and a concern. "I don't let my grandkids play out near the bottom of the garden, it's just too dangerous. "I'm worried it will reach our homes or at least destroy our entire gardens and something needs to be done about it." Cradley Heath and Old Hill Councillor Vicki Smith said: "I can understand why residents are worried because it keeps getting bigger. "It looks like they are living on the edge of a cliff the hole is so deep. "We are trying to find out what can be done for them. "As it is behind gardens and not openly viewable people do not understand just how big the problem is.

[Tracy D'arth]

No worries now for the farmer. He is to make a fortune providing access for a 300m roadway to the slip site. He will pocket many thousands of pounds from this and the canal will be closed for at least another 2 months.

[archie57]

Why do they need a roadway when there is a dredging tip a few hundred yards along the canal........

[Tracy D'arth]

1 minute ago, archie57 said:

Why do they need a roadway when there is a dredging tip a few hundred yards along the canal........

See the latest C&RT update today.  Makes one wonder how they ever dug the canal in the first place.......................

[Hudds Lad]

Update on 15/03/2024:

 

We need to advise that an extension is required to this stoppage. Unfortunately, the continued wet weather has made working on the site very difficult as the saturation of the exposed slip face and slumped material is making the area unstable. We cannot currently clear any material from the navigation or the side of the canal, for fear of further slips. Due to this, we’re planning to access the cutting across adjacent fields to dig down an access road to clear some of the slumped material, and then excavate the material from the navigation. We’ll need to construct a 300m access road before we can start the excavation, and then continue to work in a careful progressive manner to manage the risks of further slips. 

The navigation closure will therefore need to be extended beyond 6th April. With the revised plan, our current aim is to re-open the navigation by 18th May. This is still subject to change, depending on weather conditions as we progress with the works, and what potential damage has occurred to the towpath wall, which we won’t know until we start excavation.

Thank you for your patience and support in resolving this challenge.

[MtB]

13 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

The navigation closure will therefore need to be extended beyond 6th April. With the revised plan, our current aim is to re-open the navigation by 18th May.

 

Looks like my prediction back near the start of Whitsun bank holiday for the re-opening is gonna be about right! 

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

He is at it again, I haven't watched it so its up to you  

 

[Tracy D'arth]

A noticeable absence of anyone working.

[Mike Tee]

Looks like all the work is happening on the access route - although 1 - 2 weeks to build a working pad is a bit much. For example, to cut a new camp site in the bush (during the wet season) we took one day, and the camp move for 150 people was half a day, that included living quarters, workshop, kitchens, showers, literally everything for 'living'. The guys would go off to the work site at dawn, and come back to a new site with everything working that evening. Those were the days!

[zenataomm]

On 13/03/2024 at 10:01, Martin Nicholas said:

What's odd to me is that there seems to be two slips that are opposite one another. I guess that one happened first and then the tsunami from that caused the second. Either that or there was an earthquake (a tiny one) from mining subsidence or a fault.

Mining subsidence? The last I heard you needed to have mines in the area for that.  The NCB interactive map shows the nearest mine workings from Easenhall is over 10 miles away and heading t'other way.  As for a fault, why look any further than the 200 year old deep cuttings supporting mature trees?  Anyone travelling that way during the last 40+ years will be aware that there has been a massive orange buoy attached to the offside bank.  It marks an underwater obstruction that was never dealt with.  Why complicate the options and ignore the bleedin' obvious?

[dogless]

That obstruction and buoy was removed about four years ago, along with work being done on improving drains under the towpath to assist moving ground water, and stone filled gabions added to try and stabilise the bank.

 

If you examine the photo of 1910 , movement can already be seen  and at a time when there were few trees.

 

It is a wet bank, made wetter by horrendous rain this winter.

 

Without the budgets  for maintenance , and workforce the railways enjoy (being a commercial enterprise not leisure based) it's hard to see what more can be done.

 

Rog

Edited March 19 by dogless

[Stroudwater1]

3 hours ago, dogless said:

That obstruction and buoy was removed about four years ago, along with work being done on improving drains under the towpath to assist moving ground water, and stone filled gabions added to try and stabilise the bank.

 

If you examine the photo of 1910 , movement can already be seen  and at a time when there were few trees.

 

It is a wet bank, made wetter by horrendous rain this winter.

 

Without the budgets  for maintenance , and workforce the railways enjoy (being a commercial enterprise not leisure based) it's hard to see what more can be done.

 

Rog

 

There is an orange buoy further up on the offside bank, just by the Anstey Hall Hotel area ,  there maybe comments or thinking this relates to that buoy perhaps rather than one apparently removed four years ago? 

 

In fairness the yellow bag remains over the top lock lower paddle on the Hillmorton flight and that is three years now unless its been sorted very recently. Its a good time as its relatively quiet just now (Accepting there are two locks anyway of course!) Surely that can be fixed sometime soon? 

 

 

Edited March 19 by Stroudwater1
Remove the newly named Hawkesbury flight

[dogless]

The buoy at Ansty marks (I understand) the stump of a tree which grew in the bank, and would  be problematic to remove without rebuilding the canal bank.

 

I assume you mean Hillmorton locks as there's only a single stop lock at Hawkesbury.

 

Hillmorton locks are busy, and often suffer minor break downs, but of all lock flights, Hillmorton seems in my experience to have repair work carried out fairly speedily.

 

Rog

Edited March 19 by dogless

[Hudds Lad]

Last year or the year before we were passing the location of the buoy at Ansty and it had gone, wow we thought, they got round to sorting it!

 

A couple of miles further along we came upon a couple of CRT lads dragging it back in the direction it had come from  

[Ronaldo47]

12 hours ago, Mike Tee said:

Looks like all the work is happening on the access route - although 1 - 2 weeks to build a working pad is a bit much. For example, to cut a new camp site in the bush (during the wet season) we took one day, and the camp move for 150 people was half a day, that included living quarters, workshop, kitchens, showers, literally everything for 'living'. The guys would go off to the work site at dawn, and come back to a new site with everything working that evening. Those were the days!

Last year a columnist in "Modern Railways"  mentioned how, in times gone by,  emergency maintenance at an inaccessible spot would mean a gang walking there, carrying their tools, lunch, water, a Primus stove for heating their kettle, and a pack of toilet paper. Nowadays H&S means they have to construct a temporary access road leading to a wheelchair-accessible amenity block, all of which results in delays and a vast increase in costs. 

[HenryFreeman]

My journey south was going to take me via the Coventry canal then Oxford Canal (Northern Section). Obviously I can't do this now so can anyone recommend something of a diversion?

 

Cheers!

[Mike Tee]

south on B'ham & Fazeley, left under Spagheti Junction, left at Bordesley Junction

[john.k]

Its a government job........takes twice as long for four times  as much.

[ditchcrawler]

Just now, dogless said:

 Without the budgets  for maintenance , and workforce the railways enjoy (being a commercial enterprise not leisure based) it's hard to see what more can be done.

 

Rog

I think they are still suffering

Just now, Stroudwater1 said:

 

There is an orange buoy further up on the offside bank, just by the Anstey Hall Hotel area ,  there maybe comments or thinking this relates to that buoy perhaps rather than one apparently removed four years ago? 

 

In fairness the yellow bag remains over the top lock lower paddle on the Hawkesbury flight and that is three years now unless its been sorted very recently. Its a good time as its relatively quiet just now (Accepting there are two locks anyway of course!) Surely that can be fixed sometime soon? 

 

 

They are twinned locks, so are they a higher priority than say Minworth or any flight of single locks. See 

 

[zenataomm]

1 hour ago, HenryFreeman said:

can anyone recommend something of a diversion?

... stamp collecting?

2 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:

the Hawkesbury flight

... and all to raise the cut 6".

[Stroudwater1]

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

I think they are still suffering

They are twinned locks, so are they a higher priority than say Minworth or any flight of single locks. See 

 

Not a priority compared to a single lock of course, especially 6”drop (😔) .

However the paddle had a yellow bag over it in August 2021, since then the flight was closed briefly for new gates to one lock in November 2021 and closed for a bit longer in Winter closure 2022/23 for more gate/s on the flight. Yet still in November 23 the bag remained and the paddle not repaired. 
As we know the flights the busiest in the country so a lock out of action if the other paddle went too would cause much needless queues. 
Unless the paddles 24c gold it’s not a costly repair in the scheme of things. Bit mystified why it’s not yet been  fixed. 
 

Apologies for thread deviation.