Contractor appointed for new Merrywalks canal bridge in Stroud

[Josher]

Stroud News and Journal 11:54am Tuesday 20th April 2010

 

 

A contractor has been appointed to build the new A46 bridge at Merrywalks.

 

Following extensive negotiations to develop the most cost effective and efficient way to construct the bridge, Carrilion plc has now been awarded the contract.

 

Work is planned to start week commencing May 3rd.

 

The bridge is a vital part of the Cotswold Canals Project and when finished it will improve traffic flow through the town and encourage people to visit.

 

The project will begin with construction of a temporary road to bypass the site and keep traffic moving.

 

This will make use of the old Wallbridge Bridge over the canal, which was cut off in 1980s when Dr Newton’s Way was built.

 

The bridge will be opened to traffic around mid November in order to ensure no traffic delays over Christmas period.

 

Work will continue off-road but this will not affect traffic and the project will be completed in March 2011.

 

Clearly worded signs will be placed on all main routes leading to the town in an effort to cut down the number of lorries using it as a through route.

 

Traffic modelling has demonstrated that diverting 30% of drivers along other routes will minimise delays at peak times and it is hoped the signed diversions will do that.

 

The project is being led by Gloucestershire County Council with funding coming from both the county council and Stroud District Council as part of the Canal Project.

 

Cllr Stan Waddington, cabinet member for environment, said: “I am pleased that work is now able to start on the bridge project as it is such an important part of the vision for Stroud.

 

“When complete the bridge will be a crucial part of the new infrastructure and will help traffic move far more easily around the town.

 

“There have been some delays on the start of this project while the finer details of the scheme were ironed out, but we’re still on course for opening in November as planned.

 

“Gloucestershire County Council is committed to aiding regeneration in Stroud and this major project will be the catalyst for that.”

 

Paul Coupe, Stroud District Council's Canal Project Manager, said: "This will really show that the canal project is fast becoming reality.

 

“We plan to take advantage of the bridge project by getting the locks either side of it rebuilt at the same time. This will save costs, time and disruption.”

 

The anticipated cost of the scheme is £2.2M, which is made up of a combination of the County Council's Local Transport Plan funds, Stroud District Council and Lottery Heritage contributions.

 

 

For further information please visit www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/merrywalks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gloucestershire County Council, as a member of the Cotswold Canals Partnership, is planning to construct a new bridge on the section of road here. The bridge will be between the roundabout at the western end of Dr Newton's Way and the double mini roundabouts at Merrywalks, as part of the Cotswold Canal restoration project.

 

The site was originally the location for Stroud Brewery, adjacent to the canal. Traffic crossed the canal over Wallbridge, which is still in place today.

 

Close-up of Wallbridge painting reproduced by kind permission of the Stroud District (Cowle) Museum Trustees. The original Wallbridge painting is on display at the Museum in the Park, Stroud.

 

Wallbridge and Brewery pre 1960The canal being infilled in the 1960s

 

The canal was infilled at this location during the 1960s, to allow the construction of the current road over the route of the canal. An 'Armco' culvert was also constructed to divert the Slad Brook stream into the canal immediately to the west of the road.

 

During the 1970s most of the brewery buildings were demolished, although one of the brewery walls is still visible along the north side of the canal between the A46 and Wallbridge.

 

Wallbridge - the Brewery wall

 

Around 1980 the current double roundabout was constructed to the north of the canal. The Stroud East West Bypass (Dr Newton's Way) was constructed during the 1980s which included the subway under Dr Newton's Way to the south of the site.

[magpie patrick]

Cor that was quick, the contract was only signed yesterday!

 

This has removed by far and away the biggest risk item, when I get a chance I'll update with whatever other news I can, but I think I ought to tell the HLF trustees before posting it here!

[Amduck]

As I sometimes work around Stroud, I really feel I should try to understand a bit more about this.

 

I see the canal route signs on my driving past sometimes.

 

Unfortunately, red wine precludes me understanding this tonight. Must get a map out and try to trace route.

 

 

What I really want is to be able to moor my boat in South Cerney, but I think I might have to wait a few years....

[Josher]

Amduck - you may wish to have a look here ..

 

 

Lease signed for new canal visitor centre at former Bell Hotel in Stroud

 

Stroud News and Journal 12:00pm Wednesday 21st April 2010

 

 

A LEASE for the use of part of the former Bell Hotel in Wallbridge, Stroud for a new canal visitor centre was signed this week.

 

The Cotswold Canals Trust also intends to move its head office to the hotel, as well as run a retail area there.

 

Members signed a lease with landlord Luciano Magalotti on Thursday to rent half of the groundfloor on the side nearest the canal.

 

The facility will allow residents to find out about the canal project, buy merchandise, donate to the trust or even become a member.

 

It will include a conference and exhibition room with photographs, maps and a cross-section model of the canal.

 

Future plans for the lockside location, situated on the meeting point of Stroud’s two canals, includes guided walks, a cafe, a picnic area and boat trips.

 

Clive Field, who currently manages the trust's heritage centre at Saul, said the charity needed a base in Stroud because of growing interest in the regeneration project.

 

"The visitor centre will emphasise that Wallbridge is the gateway to Stroud town centre," he said.

 

"Our presence will be to answer questions, sometimes to allay fears and sometimes to present the reality of the scheme."

 

Volunteers, drawn from the trust's 5,000 members, will help to fit-out the centre and then to staff it.

 

It is hoped volunteers will be able to start work in June and the centre will open at the beginning of July.

 

This big step in the canal project has been enabled with grants from Stroud Town Council, Stroud District Council, Gloucestershire County Council and the Inland Waterways Association.

 

The centre will cost between £10,000 and £15,000 to fit out and about £16,000 annually to operate.

 

Members are currently fundraising so that a £8,000 access lift can be installed.

 

For more information visit www.cotswoldcanals.com

[Josher]

BBC News 11:44 GMT, Monday, 26 April 2010 12:44 UK BBC News

 

Loire Valley delegation visits Cotswold canal

 

A bottle of water from the Loire Valley will be poured into the Thames & Severn Canal in Gloucestershire to mark a visit by a French delegation.

 

The group is on an information exchange visit to learn about the Cotswold Canal restoration project that will reconnect the River Severn with the River Thames.

 

A similar project is under way at the Loire Valley's Canal de Berry and a return visit will take place in June.

 

The symbolic gesture will be made later at Wallbridge, near Stroud.

 

The Cotswold Canals is made up of the seven-mile (13km) Stroudwater Navigation Canal and 29-mile (46km) Thames & Severn Canal.

 

It is hoped the exchange of ideas may pave the way to releasing European funding.

[RLWP]

Posted with a link, thank you Josher.

 

The Cotswold canals were featured enthusiastically on Countryfile last night on BBC1.

 

Richard

 

I was amused by the juxtaposition of a story about reviving a canal being placed next to a story about the damage that a new high speed rail line would cause. I can just imagine some farmer in the early 1800's going on about how his land will be split in two, and some top-hatted chap and his crinoline wearing wife explaining how their property will be devalued by the canal.

[Josher]

 

Ecotricity set to expand with £8m green headquarters (including shuttle boat service).

28th April 2010 Greenwise Weekly

UK green energy company Ecotricity is set for rapid expansion following planning permission for it to build an £8 million eco-headquarters in Stroud, Gloucestshire.

 

Ecotricity, which currently employs 170 people, says the new headquarters will house 300 employees, and will be in addition to its existing offices in Stroud. It will replace Tricorn House, a former DSS office building that has stood empty at the entrance of the town for more than a decade.

 

Ecotricity wants to turn the derelict site into a new building that will include a host of environmentally friendly features. The company is even planning to build a wind turbine to help power it and is considering running a shuttle bus boat service along the Cotswold canal to help people travel to work emitting minimal carbon.

 

"Our new HQ will be an inspirational green place, to look at and to work in," said Ecotricity founder and managing director Dale Vince, who hopes it will also help transform Stroud into a 'green Silicon Valley’.

 

"Planning consent for our plans is an important step, bringing us closer to turning this eyesore into an icon and, we hope, a beacon to attract other like-minded organisation to make Stroud the UK’s green hotspot," he said.

 

Local architects David Austin Associates will lead the project, which is expected to take around two years to build. The development will include a wide range of environmental features, including rainwater harvesting, induced convection ventilation, passive and active solar heating and 'living walls’.

 

Green travel options could include shuttle boat service

Green travel plans are central to the development; the site is close to the town centre, on the major bus routes, and falls within the town’s cycle network. It is also next to the Cotswold canal, which Ecotricity is considering running a shuttle boat service on.

 

"Our vision is for a living, breathing building that practically powers itself," said Vince. "Virtually all of the heating, cooling and lighting will come from natural sources around us, and any more will be provided by what we know works best – a dedicated windmill hopefully nearby to the town."

 

To begin work, Ecotricity still needs to apply for a Compulsory Purchase Order of the existing building from its current owners, but this is expected to be made easier following the planning permission.

 

The new headquarters will be in addition to Ecotricity’s current buildings in Stroud at Imperial House, Axiom House and a new site in Russell Street.

 

Ecotricity supplies renewable energy to 40,000 home and business customers.

 

Related links:

www.ecotricity.co.uk

[Josher]

Work to start on new Stonehouse canal bridge in August

 

Journal.

[magpie patrick]

Work to start on new Stonehouse canal bridge in August

 

Journal.

 

You had me worried there, but I see that they actually mean Upper Mills Bridge, which is now approved.

 

Stonehouse Swing Bridge still has one or two "issues"

[richardf]

You had me worried there, but I see that they actually mean Upper Mills Bridge, which is now approved.

 

Stonehouse Swing Bridge still has one or two "issues"

 

Is that the bridge by 'The Ocean' - only I live abut 100 yds from there! What are the issues? I have always looked at the garden that looks like it will be lost when the swing bridge is put back into use and wondered who owns the land etc. It has been amusing watching the 'community payback' team laying stone on the towpath - progress has been slow! But its a lovely spot and the sun has been shining....

[Josher]

Open Days planned as Canal comes to life

 

10:00am Thursday 11th November 2010 Stroud news

 

WORK on the new Upper Mills Bridge over the Stroudwater canal at Stonehouse is now well underway, with completion on schedule for Christmas.

 

There will be two open days to see the work Friday, November 19, 1-4pm, and on Saturday, November 20, 10am-2pm.

 

The project will see the existing swing bridge replaced with a new fixed bridge, leading from the A419 into the Upper Mills Industrial Estate. Led by Stroud District Council and funded mainly by the Heritage Lottery Fund, this restoration project will mean the canal channel is unobstructed between Ocean Bridge at Stonehouse and Ryeford Double Lock.

 

The short stretch of the canal will be re-aligned and widened, taking advantage of height differences on the site, to allow canal boats sufficient headroom to go under the new fixed bridge. "Everyone who lives locally has really got behind the project which will see this stretch of canal operational again after around fifty years of inactivity," said Britannia’s project manager, Philip Wyatt, who lives in Stonehouse.

 

"Together with Stroud District Council and the Cotswold Canals Trust we are looking forward to welcoming everyone to our open days when they will have the chance to learn more about the project, and the work we have been carrying out."

 

Britannia has now completed the installation of 154 steel piles to support the bridge and canal bank. The piles range in length from six to ten metres, and have been driven into the ground with a state of the art, 70 tonne piling rig. Completion of the bridge will enable Stroud District Council to dredge the canal between Ocean Bridge and Ryeford. Once the bridge is complete, Britannia will fix the nameplates from the old swing bridge originally built in the 1920’s by T.H. & J. Daniels Ltd Engineers, from Stroud onto the new one.

 

The bridge was strengthened and fixed in position in 1959 when the waterway was no longer used for navigation.

 

As well as having the experts on hand from Britannia and Stroud District Council’s Canal Team to talk to visitors about the project, activities will be provided for the younger generation. Refreshments will also be available.

[Josher]

Nice ...

 

18 May 2011 Last updated at 14:27 BBC

 

Name for new canal bridge in Stroud is revealed

 

Stroud Brewery Bridge Stroud Brewery Bridge is due to open next month

 

Stroud's new canal bridge is to be known as Stroud Brewery Bridge. The structure carrying the A46 over the waterway in the town centre is due to be opened in June after months of delays. Its name commemorates the old Stroud Brewery which stood next to the site until its demolition in the 1970s.

 

"We thought this name was a good way of remembering a once great landmark," said Councillor Keith Pearson, of Stroud District Council. The bridge over the old Thames and Severn Canal is part of the ongoing Cotswolds Canals Restoration Project. The name was chosen from nearly 30 suggestions submitted to the council by members of the public. Brewery Bridge was the most popular suggestion, but both Stroud Town Council and the Gloucestershire Society for Industrial Archaeology felt that the name Stroud should be incorporated into the title.

 

Road traffic was originally carried by the old Wallbridge Bridge until the canal was infilled at Merrywalks in the 1960s and the new A46 junction built. The new bridge will open up the route of the canal between Stonehouse Ocean and Capels Mill as part of the ongoing Cotswold Canals Restoration Project. It had originally been due to open in November 2010 but building work was delayed because of bad weather and an unexpected excavation at the base of the bridge. The majority of the funding for the new bridge has come from the Canal Project with the remainder from the county council.

[Josher]

Nearly there ...

 

Bridge opening set for Thursday 2:20pm Tuesday 19th July 2011 Stroud News

 

STROUD’S new Brewery Bridge will open to pedestrians and traffic for the first time on Thursday. The £1.8 million canal overpass, which has had its opening postponed twice before due to weather conditions and construction delays, will be available to use from between 4am and 5am. The only chance of further delay will be if torrential rain occurs, in which case the opening will wait until it passes.

[Josher]

Nice job! Just need some boats now ...

 

£1.8m Stroud Brewery Bridge opens 22 July 2011 BBC

 

 

Stroud Brewery Bridge Engineers have removed the barriers on the new £1.8m Stroud Brewery Bridge. A new bridge in Gloucestershire has opened as part of the Cotswolds Canals Restoration Project. Engineers removed the barriers on the new £1.8m Stroud Brewery Bridge on Thursday. Work on the structure, which carries the A46 over the old Thames and Severn Canal, started in July last year. District Councillor Andy Reid said: "It is probably one of the biggest steps that has so far been taken in the regeneration of the canal. This is the one spot that pretty much everybody who drives through Stroud will get to see," he added.

 

The bridge had originally been due to open in November 2010 but building work was delayed because of bad weather and an unexpected excavation at its base. The ongoing Cotswolds Canals Restoration Project aims to reconnect the River Severn with the River Thames.

[magpie patrick]

I drove over it only an hour or two after it opened, on my way to an unconnected meeting. At the HLF monitoring meetings this bridge had become a standing joke, with comments like "Did they say which July?"

 

However the contractor still has to remove something underwater near the bridge that could be hit by a long, deep draughted boat. And the battle to get them to understand that boats must line up with a bridge, they don't bend or steer with their front wheels, was tedious.

[richardf]

And next week the road leading to it from the west (Stonehouse/M5 etc.) begins a 2 week closure for water main replacement!!

[the grinch]

seeing another article on the Dr Newton's way costings i'm trying to understand what the issue is? it seems that the road was built over the canal bed, but there appears to be a canal sized bridge to the right of the original line, so what is the issue here, some photo's would be good to understand the complexities of the problem.

[magpie patrick]

seeing another article on the Dr Newton's way costings i'm trying to understand what the issue is? it seems that the road was built over the canal bed, but there appears to be a canal sized bridge to the right of the original line, so what is the issue here, some photo's would be good to understand the complexities of the problem.

 

Can't give you photos at the moment, but it amounts to this

 

the road took the canal arch in a railway viaduct, actually it was the only span that wasn't an arch, in the middle of a multi-span, multi-arch viaduct there is one flat deck span, which was over the canal. It is now over a road

 

As part of the deal, the road incorporated a bridge for the canal to follow a new route through a different arch of the viaduct, so the road in itself isn't an obstacle.

 

Unfortunately the new route goes through a tip, which belonged to Barclays Bank after their client went bust. The ownership isn't a major problem, Barclays didn't exactly see this as an asset, but dealing with the tip is an issue because of the "inert waste" in it. It ends up being cheaper to remove the entire tip rather than cut a channel through it, but even then, the channel will only be wide enough for one way passage by wide beams.

 

It is the second most problematic site on the route, the first being Brimscombe Port

[the grinch]

thanks Pat seems like waste tips are a big problem at the moment as the Bluebell Railway has had to remove tons of it by rail costing them thousands of pounds that could otherwise have been spent on the trains and track. hope to see both the canal and the bluebell achieve their aims!