Forth and Clyde Closure

[Jokar]

So in 2000, it cost £34million to reopen the full canal after it was lying redundant  for years, but it needs £74million to maintain now? Sounds like the canal has done worse being maintained  than it was lying derilict.

[jeanb]

Very interesting OK indeed. We now have our own boat but when we were renting we had a brilliant week betwixt Glasgow and Edinburgh and twice over the Falkirk Wheel which was a treat. However, Scottish Canals head office must be the most swish building in Edinburgh after their Parliament, with lots and lots of people sitting at desks. (Allegedly).

[Jokar]

And according  to the magazine,  the £34m included the full Falkirk wheel? I don't know the accuracy of any of the quoted figures, but if it's gone that far downhill questions need to be answered, why was it allowed to get so bad?

[Jess--]

9 minutes ago, Jokar said:

And according  to the magazine,  the £34m included the full Falkirk wheel? I don't know the accuracy of any of the quoted figures, but if it's gone that far downhill questions need to be answered, why was it allowed to get so bad?

probably down to just enough being done to get it open and what it really needed to be in perfect condition

for a silly example take a 70's ford escort
for £500, it will run but the gearbox grinds, the passenger window doesn't go up, the boot falls off if you open it and it's got 3 bald tyres.
for several thousand you can get one that is as good as (if not better than) it rolled off the production line.

[ronnietucker]

16 minutes ago, Jokar said:

And according  to the magazine,  the £34m included the full Falkirk wheel? I don't know the accuracy of any of the quoted figures, but if it's gone that far downhill questions need to be answered, why was it allowed to get so bad?

I think the £34m was part of the building cost:

Quote

On Valentine's Day 1997, the Commission announced it would support the Link with £32 million of funding, 42% of the project cost.^[10] The Wheel and its associated basin was priced at £17 million, more than a fifth of the total budget.^[11] Another £46 million had to be raised in the next two years before construction could commence, with contributions from BWB, seven local councils, Scottish Enterprise, and private donations being augmented by £8.6 million from the European Regional Development Fund.^[12]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_Wheel#Proposal

[Up-Side-Down]

55 minutes ago, ronnietucker said:

An OK write-up about SC in the latest issue of Private Eye:

Not a bad article except that the sum stumped up by the Millennium Commission was twice the quoted figure ........ and that was about £18m short of the money required to do the job properly. Consequently short cuts were taken and jobs not fully completed. Instead of consolidating what was here (the navigation) funds have been hived off on a whole series of vanity projects few of which could be considered profitable in the accepted sense of the word.

[Up-Side-Down]

23 minutes ago, ronnietucker said:

I think the £34m was part of the building cost:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_Wheel#Proposal

In the light of Ronnie's assiduous research perhaps I should have said 'stumped up by the Millennium Commission et al ..........' rather than going for the simplified version!

[ronnietucker]

16 minutes ago, Up-Side-Down said:

Ronnie's assiduous research

Aka: copy/pasted from Wikipedia

(so it must be true  )

[Up-Side-Down]

The canal looked be generally in much better condition before its first closure!

http://movingimage.nls.uk/film/1687

[Richard Fairhurst]

37 minutes ago, Up-Side-Down said:

Not a bad article except that the sum stumped up by the Millennium Commission was twice the quoted figure ........ and that was about £18m short of the money required to do the job properly. Consequently short cuts were taken and jobs not fully completed. Instead of consolidating what was here (the navigation) funds have been hived off on a whole series of vanity projects few of which could be considered profitable in the accepted sense of the word.

Well, quite. At the time, it was generally known that all the Millennium projects were being done on the basis of minimising cost to get them open. It was pretty widely understood, I think, that they'd require further work in the years to come.

There was a pretty clear precedent for this - the Kennet & Avon, which reopened to a minimal standard in 1990, and required £25m from HLF in 1996 to get it up to scratch. I'd heard (though don't know if it's true) that Derek Cochrane had been working up a programme to get the two Pennine canals into a sustainable, reliable state before he was shunted sideways and then out.

[Up-Side-Down]

2 minutes ago, Richard Fairhurst said:

Well, quite. At the time, it was generally known that all the Millennium projects were being done on the basis of minimising cost to get them open. It was pretty widely understood, I think, that they'd require further work in the years to come.

There was a pretty clear precedent for this - the Kennet & Avon, which reopened to a minimal standard in 1990, and required £25m from HLF in 1996 to get it up to scratch. I'd heard (though don't know if it's true) that Derek Cochrane had been working up a programme to get the two Pennine canals into a sustainable, reliable state before he was shunted sideways and then out.

But it seems nobody got round to telling BWS that this was the score. Or if they did, no one was inclined to listen! The words 'bite' and bum' spring to mind (amongst others).

[13-10]

Maybe not a good time to mention they're closing the Union at Linlithgow from 15-19 April 

[Up-Side-Down]

9 minutes ago, 13-10 said:

Maybe not a good time to mention they're closing the Union at Linlithgow from 15-19 April 

Would you happen to know why?

[haggis]

More inspections for leaks, I believe

haggis

[13-10]

And to investigate a possible sink hole. I think my summer plans will be paddle a canoe to Glasgow and sit and listen to Ronnies new stereo

E-mail from SC

 

Dear boater,

 

You may remember that we drained down a stretch of the Union Canal at Linlithgow early last year to carry out an embankment study that would give us a better understanding of the works that are needed in this area. This study told us that we need to carry out additional bank improvements near to Preston Road, which we have scheduled in to our programme of works later this summer.

 

However, in order for these repairs to go ahead, we need to conduct an additional ground investigation in April.

 

In addition, a sink hole has appeared on the towpath to the west of St Michael’s aqueduct and it is important that we investigate the cause.

 

All of this means that we will be installing a stop gate at Preston Road bridge No 45 and stop planks at Woodcockdale bridge No 48, impacting on navigation between Sunday 15^th April and Thursday 19^th April 2018.

 

We have made every effort to minimise the impact on boaters and have also contacted the holiday hire boat customers that will be affected. While this will no doubt inconvenience some of our customers, I am sure many of you will welcome the investment being made in the structure of the Lowland canals.

[Up-Side-Down]

6 minutes ago, 13-10 said:

listen to Ronnies new stereo

Hope it's not that loud as I moor 50 yds away from him in Bowling ............. and Glasgow is 10 miles away!

[13-10]

1 minute ago, Up-Side-Down said:

Hope it's not that loud as I moor 50 yds away from him in Bowling ............. and Glasgow is 10 miles away!

Alright, gimme a break I've not had enough coffee yet

[Up-Side-Down]

Just now, 13-10 said:

Alright, gimme a break I've not had enough coffee yet

But you're more than welcome in Bowling – I've just taken delivery of some excellent Ethiopian Yirgacheffe which I'm about to open and would be happy to share!

[13-10]

1 minute ago, Up-Side-Down said:

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe

Is that not a notifiable disease 

[Up-Side-Down]

6 minutes ago, 13-10 said:

Is that not a notifiable disease 

I'll just have to wait and see .........

[AllanD]

I don't know if I should feel guilty or relieved that I sold my boat last year. My hopes for the regeneration of the canals are slowly being destroyed.  I have previously cruised and walked some of the canals in down south and it was these memories which had raised my expectations for the Lowland Canals. I am hurting for everyone who is still on the water being affected by all of this.

[Up-Side-Down]

47 minutes ago, AllanD said:

I don't know if I should feel guilty or relieved that I sold my boat last year. My hopes for the regeneration of the canals are slowly being destroyed.  I have previously cruised and walked some of the canals in down south and it was these memories which had raised my expectations for the Lowland Canals. I am hurting for everyone who is still on the water being affected by all of this.

Thank you – on behalf of all Lowland Canals boaters – for what I can clearly see as being your genuine heartfelt commiserations.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Up-Side-Down

[Jokar]

14 hours ago, ronnietucker said:

I think the £34m was part of the building cost:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_Wheel#Proposal

Boobed post, and don't know how to delete, so ignore it 

Edited April 5, 2018 by Jokar
Add on

[Tim Lewis]

Another bridge closed to canal traffic:

https://www.waterways.org.uk/news/view?id=354&x[0]=news/list

 

[Jokar]

The faulty bridges were obviously  a part of the reopening  phase, they are now dangerous  for a reason, either poor design or lack of maintenance  or both.  I have seen money being spent needlessly, in my opinion. But obviously  I don't know who provides funding for all the projects that we see on the canal.