One Hell Of A Stoppage - Grand Union - Bridge 84 - Milton Keynes 7th january to 13th March

[alan_fincher]

When bridge 87 was virtually rebuilt about 10 or 11 years ago, I can't remember if they allowed occasional passage or not, but an old picture I took looks like it may well have been possible. So keep your fingers crossed.

 

 

Unfortunately that one, which as you say was a total rebuild, that looked very sound, has also acquired cracking in the new structure last year or so.

 

Whilst trying to Google for an image, it also produces a stoppage notice....

 

Here is an image of that bridge, but not one that shows the defects that has come to light in the last year or so....

 

 

Copyright Mr Biz and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

 

 

[Keeping Up]

Bridge 84 has looked pretty unsafe for some time, and the residents nearby have been complaining for a couple of years about the enormous cracks in the path over it (gaps of a couple of inches in the tarmac and with step-changes in the level). It worried me that a brick might fall on me as I went underneath, too. Its been badly patched up, just by filling the cracks again and again. In November when I went under it the contractors were there installing drain holes in the arch, with small pipes. They confidently said that with drainage to get rid of the water that came through the path plus filling the cracks with cement there might be no need for a stoppage; since then every crack they filled has already opened by up to 5mm and half of their drainpipes look to have fallen out. Having been watching the bridge with some concern for about 5 years now (I walk the dog past it at least twice a week) I will be frankly amazed if it doesn't need a full rebuild, although of course they may just patch it up again.

 

I'm fairly sure bridge 87 was completely closed to boat traffic for quite a while when it was rebuilt.

[pearley]

Thanks for that, it's not really a "major" issue for us; we had planned on getting past the Leighton Buzz closure just before it happened and then spending the remainder of Jan and all of Feb slowly making our way up to Great Linford, then March would have taken us to the top of the Braunston flight. Not to worry, we'll have a rethink

 

Yes I like the email notification system CRT has in place, works well for us and our needs. And I do normally check the actual stoppages page every couple of weeks. Not sure how I either missed this or misunderstood it.

 

I was sure it was just the tow path that was going to be closed and not the navigation itself. Oh well

I think you must have misunderstood. The copy I printed out in October states:

 

B84 closed from on 07/01/2015 - 13/03/2015. The towpath is also closed.

 

At some time I have altered this to 19/01

 

No Alan, I have no knowledge that scaffo!ding will be used. It was an assumption on my part from looking at the pictures and from the descriptions of the damage.

Edited December 30, 2014 by pearley

[alan_fincher]

I think you must have misunderstood. The copy I printed out in October states:

 

B84 closed from on 07/01/2015 - 13/03/2015. The towpath is also closed.

 

At some time I have altered this to 19/01

 

That's fine, and understood, and actually very helpful - thanks.

 

As you have tracked the stoppage, whereas I can only see the latest form of it, it seems that whilst they have managed to add a comment to it that the start date has changed, for some reason they have not updated the stoppage details to reflect this.

 

Normally if they move a date, then the details you get to see in the heading are the amended form, not the old info, that no longer applies.

 

Unless anyone knows different we'll assume nothing will happen before the 19th, which means that other stoppages (Leighton Buzzard and Braunston) will actually start before, and they are the ones we need to worry about.

 

Sorry - I wasn't trying to wilfully misunderstand! Thanks for clarifying what you know.

[valrene9600]

Just received this abut the Milton Keynes stoppage.

 

Good afternoon Les,

 

Thank you for contacting Canal & River Trust, I have liaised with my Waterway Manager and he has confirmed that the following Major Works are due to start on site on Monday 19th January 2015.

 

P9244 – Bridge 84 Repairs

 

The major works for Bridge 84 will commence on site on 19th January, and will last for approximately 10 weeks.

 

The works to be undertaken comprise underpinning the bridge wingwalls using a combination of micro-piles and reinforced concrete capping beams, installation of tie bars into the voussoir of the bridge, surfacing repair over the bridge arch, and brickwork repairs to the bridge parapets, spandrel walls and the arch barrel.

 

A navigation stoppage shall be in place between the 19th January and the 13th March. However, the towpath will remain open except for a short section underneath bridge 84 itself, where the towpath will be locally diverted onto a parallel path.

 

This information will uploaded onto our website this afternoon.

 

 

 

wow that has spread

 

 

Kind Regards

 

Lou Harwood

Business Support

 

Edited January 5, 2015 by valrene9600

[ditchcrawler]

And this is what they posted this afternoon.

 

Grand Union CanalStarts At: Bridge 84Ends At: Bridge 84Up Stream Winding Hole: Between bridge 83 and 84Down Stream Winding Hole: South of Bridge 96

Monday 19 January 2015 08:00 until Friday 13 March 2015 18:00

Type: Navigation Closure Reason: (Re)Construction

Update on 05/01/2015: The major works for Bridge 84 will commence on site on 19th January and will last for approximately 10 weeks.

The works to be undertaken comprise underpinning the bridge wingwalls using a combination of micro-piles and reinforced concrete capping beams, installation of tie bars into the voussoir of the bridge, surfacing repair over the bridge arch, and brickwork repairs to the bridge parapets, spandrel walls and the arch barrel.

A navigation stoppage shall be in place between the 19th January and the 13th March. However, the towpath will remain open except for a short section underneath bridge 84 itself, where the towpath will be locally diverted onto a parallel path.Update on 10/12/2014: Please be aware that the stoppage dates have been amended to commence from 19th January to 13th March 2015.Original message: Repairs to stabilise the bridge which is known to be moving.

We believe a stoppage is required for these works but are currently investigating the delivery methods with our contractor.

The towpath will be closed during the works. A towpath diversion will be in place and more details will be provided when finalised.

The last couple of lines indicate they still don't know if a "Stoppage" will be required

[Keeping Up]

That's a new word for me, "voussoir".

 

The towpath diversion is trivial and lasts for just a few feet.

 

ETA Googling it suggests that every stone in the arch is a voussoir, so should they have said voussoirs (plural)

Edited January 5, 2015 by Keeping Up

[valrene9600]

Original message mentions contractor. New message states closure.

[Keeping Up]

No sign of any work at Bridge 84 today.

 

When I mentioned about cracks in the footpath surface, this (right-hand side of the path, centre of the picture) gives an idea of the sort of cracks that appear when the supporting brickwork beneath has simply dropped.- although this one is actually at Bridge 83 and is regarded as too trivial to bother about.

 

 

 

Bridge 84 shows plenty of evidence of the cracks in the path that were repaired in November.

 

 

 

This picture shows how a typical example of a crack in the parapets, all of which were patched up in November, has reopened in the short time since then.

 

 

 

The cracks extend right through the parapets, here are pictures of both sides of the bridge.

 

 

 

 

Here you can more clearly see the drainpipes which were installed under the arch in November

 

 

This set of 4 bricks had become completely detached about a year ago and it is a miracle that they remained wedged in place for so long; I used to keep well over to the other side when passing underneath them.

 

(All pictures by Keeping Up, on Flickr)

 

I'll post some more pictures if anything interesting happens.

 

[Pykebird]

Looks like I won't be able to squeeze a sneaky boat trip down to fenny then this week end!

[Keeping Up]

It was still open for boats yesterday afternoon, they had built a huge Portacabin in the car park but the only other work they had done was to lay down 6ft of hard surface to be the towpath diversion through the hedge up to the Broadwalk. I haven't seen it today because I walked Telford in the other direction, but I'll have a look a few times during the week and report back here.

[Pykebird]

Cheers keeping up, that would be really helpful. Have heard a rumour they haven't got all the equipment they need yet. Would be great if I could sneak in an out over week end

[Keeping Up]

Yes, they were delayed by the late arrival of some hired equipment, but it has all arrived and work has commenced. At the moment they are still hoping to complete the works without demolishing the bridge, and have brought in a mobile drilling rig which is currently drilling down through the foundations with the intention of then pumping in some cement to stabilise them. The bridge is open to pedestrians, but is closed to boats at the moment.

 

I chatted to one of the contractors, who says he hopes that they will complete the drilling of the foundations this week, so it is conceivable that the route could be open to boats for the weekend although he confessed that he had no idea about that. I'll have another look on Friday.

 

As you can see, there is a small flat under the bridge. Of course I wouldn't dream of suggesting that you could probably get past it if there was nobody about at the weekend!

 

 

 

 

Here are some views of their mobile drilling machine

 

 

 

 

Apparently a minor complication is that they have deemed the bridge to be too weak to drive the mobile drill over, so it will probably have to go around by road.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Keeping Up

[Keeping Up]

Sorry Pykebird it doesn't look likely that you would be able to get through bridge 84 this weekend. There is a scaffold pole across the canal, firmly fixed at each end. Edited to add pictures:

 

They've finished drilling holes into the foundations on the towpath side

 

 

The drill has made its way to the offside

 

 

They've attached their workboat to a scaffold pole which is fixed across the canal

 

 

 

And they've fixed a temporary bat-box in the trees, in case there were any bats living in the brickwork.

 

Edited January 30, 2015 by Keeping Up

[Pykebird]

Thanks for the update, keepingup!

[bassplayer]

Any more news on progress here?

[Keeping Up]

This afternoon they were drilling holes into the outside face of the arch.

 

 

The scaffold pole was still across the canal, with the workboat under the bridge.

 

(perhaps I shouldn't say, but I reckon somebody sneaked through last weekend by unbolting the pole after the contractors had gone home, because I noticed that it wasn't there on the Sunday afternoon. Either that or the contractors themselves took it away when they'd finished work, to allow for this)

[bassplayer]

This afternoon they were drilling holes into the outside face of the arch.

 

 

The scaffold pole was still across the canal, with the workboat under the bridge.

 

(perhaps I shouldn't say, but I reckon somebody sneaked through last weekend by unbolting the pole after the contractors had gone home, because I noticed that it wasn't there on the Sunday afternoon. Either that or the contractors themselves took it away when they'd finished work, to allow for this)

Thanks for the update and pictures. BTW, it wasn't me, I'm still near the other stoppage at Marsworth stuck in ice.

[Terryb]

No sign of any work at Bridge 84 today.

 

When I mentioned about cracks in the footpath surface, this (right-hand side of the path, centre of the picture) gives an idea of the sort of cracks that appear when the supporting brickwork beneath has simply dropped.- although this one is actually at Bridge 83 and is regarded as too trivial to bother about.

 

 

 

Bridge 84 shows plenty of evidence of the cracks in the path that were repaired in November.

 

 

 

This picture shows how a typical example of a crack in the parapets, all of which were patched up in November, has reopened in the short time since then.

 

 

 

The cracks extend right through the parapets, here are pictures of both sides of the bridge.

 

 

 

 

Here you can more clearly see the drainpipes which were installed under the arch in November

 

 

This set of 4 bricks had become completely detached about a year ago and it is a miracle that they remained wedged in place for so long; I used to keep well over to the other side when passing underneath them.

 

(All pictures by Keeping Up, on Flickr)

 

I'll post some more pictures if anything interesting happens.

 

Great work you. Please keepus updated. I am so desperate to get a boat down from Rugby. OOooer bugger.

[junior]

I've just seen something on Facebook from someone saying they are letting boats through after 16:30 every day. Not sure how true this is....

[Terryb]

Great ! now I will have my holiday at bridge 84 in my new boat. Pre-booked it to bring my new boat (Alfie) home.

 

One point I noticed on the CaRT site, was that ALL repairs on every stoppage, will be finished on the same day March 13th. Are they saying Friday the 13th just for the fun of it.

Oh sounds interesting Junior.What site is that.

I've just seen something on Facebook from someone saying they are letting boats through after 16:30 every day. Not sure how true this is....

 

Oh sounds interesting Junior.What site is that.

[junior]

[Terryb]

Thanks Junior. Joined it.

[Keeping Up]

Certainly this afternoon (Saturday) there's nothing to stop you from going through there. There's no pole across the canal and the work boat is pulled most of the way out of the bridge hole. Almost all the boats that were moored between 83 and 84 have moved on.

 

There's still plenty of work to do but it looks as if they are trying to keep the navigation open when they aren't actually working.

[Terryb]

Certainly this afternoon (Saturday) there's nothing to stop you from going through there. There's no pole across the canal and the work boat is pulled most of the way out of the bridge hole. Almost all the boats that were moored between 83 and 84 have moved on.

 

There's still plenty of work to do but it looks as if they are trying to keep the navigation open when they aren't actually working.

Thanks Alan, looks like I'm screwed though, having changed my holiday plans to allow me a week commuting from MK and then the next week off to get it to Hertford. I will once again have to ring my head office to explain my dilemma, and hope they understand. I really didn't fancy a 120 mile round trip every day.