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March of the Widebeams


cuthound

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2 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

It isn't the scrawlings of Wikipedia in this case though but boats which have been able to get through bridges but now can not.

The commercial boats I refer to are those built and operated in the days of cargo carrying rather than modern built hotel boats and trip boats, and the point being the one unsuccessfully used for trials was 12'1½ - several inches narrower than those modern boats being discussed in this thread. :captain:

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1 hour ago, pete harrison said:

The commercial boats I refer to are those built and operated in the days of cargo carrying rather than modern built hotel boats and trip boats, and the point being the one unsuccessfully used for trials was 12'1½ - several inches narrower than those modern boats being discussed in this thread. :captain:

Must have built the bridges to allow for a bit of spread ?

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3 hours ago, Tuscan said:

 

Spoke to the skipper of the Tranquil Rose today as we crossed , he says that the blue lias bridge has shrunk to 12’5” (crt measurements) from 12’6” hence they couldn’t get through although previously they could.

The bridge which the boat couldn't get through isn't the Blue Lias bridge, it's the one below Shop Lock and this is also the bridge Tranquil Rose couldn't pass through. It was possible to get a pair of boats through the Lias bridge provided that either

 

1) One of them didn't have a cabin on it and you put it on the outside

 

or

 

2) One of them had a cabin you wished to remove and were prepared to go into the bridgehole hard enough

 

The 12ft dimension which has been quoted for the Lias bridge is pretty meaningless as it is the arch which is the issue there. Wide beam boats often have to resort to dropping the pound to get through, causing damage to boats moored in that pound and up Kayes Arm. Bickley's bridge has also proved problematic for boats built at Delta Marine in the past: a former Bascote lock keeper had to prevent a hammer and chisel being taken to the arch with the words "Oh no you're ****ing not" when told what was about to happen.

 

I'm told this isn't the first time Tranquil Rose has stuck in New Bridge (not a name in common usage for it, in many years of going over or under it this may be the first time I've used it), they got stuck last year too.

  • Haha 1
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32 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

Shrewley?

Certainly looks like it, doesn’t it?

 

Therefore this must be a picture of the one and only journey of Progress on the GU Birmingham line. Maybe Mr Williams can find one of it getting stuck!

 

JP

Edited by Captain Pegg
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15 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

Therefore this must be a picture of the one and only journey of Progress on the GU Birmingham line.

Hatton.jpg.f0c000e9c6e6d2368826c8f6020ef7bb.jpg

'Progress' at the opening of Hatton Locks by the Duke of Kent  

 

 

Edited by Chris Williams
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I see from this post that the CRT Boaters handbook has been updated with a map showing which waterways are suitable for wide and narrow craft. The map doesn't specify the maximum width for each wide waterway. But it does show the GU main line as wide all the way to Birmingham (and all of the North Oxford as narrow).

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Press cutting:  The motor vessel ‘Progress’ has an overall length of 75 feet, a beam of 12 feet 6 inches, and a depth of 5 feet, and will be capable of carrying 68 tons.  It is fitted with a British-Junkers 30-B.H.P. three-cylinder unit engine and runs at 1,200 r.p.m.  It carries seven river lamps, a bell, fog horn and has wheel steering and living accommodation.”

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12 minutes ago, Chris Williams said:

Press cutting:  The motor vessel ‘Progress’ has an overall length of 75 feet, a beam of 12 feet 6 inches, and a depth of 5 feet, and will be capable of carrying 68 tons.  It is fitted with a British-Junkers 30-B.H.P. three-cylinder unit engine and runs at 1,200 r.p.m.  It carries seven river lamps, a bell, fog horn and has wheel steering and living accommodation.”

They must have dredged to twice the current depths 'in them days'.

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2 hours ago, Chris Williams said:

Hatton.jpg.f0c000e9c6e6d2368826c8f6020ef7bb.jpg

'Progress' at the opening of Hatton Locks by the Duke of Kent  

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Chris Williams said:

Press cutting:  The motor vessel ‘Progress’ has an overall length of 75 feet, a beam of 12 feet 6 inches, and a depth of 5 feet, and will be capable of carrying 68 tons.  It is fitted with a British-Junkers 30-B.H.P. three-cylinder unit engine and runs at 1,200 r.p.m.  It carries seven river lamps, a bell, fog horn and has wheel steering and living accommodation.”

Keep on posting this stuff Chris interesting reading, the 68 tons is interesting as sheffield size boats were supposed to carry 100 tons, but they were wider and deeper but 15 foot shorter

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1 hour ago, Chris Williams said:

Press cutting:  The motor vessel ‘Progress’ has an overall length of 75 feet, a beam of 12 feet 6 inches, and a depth of 5 feet, and will be capable of carrying 68 tons.  It is fitted with a British-Junkers 30-B.H.P. three-cylinder unit engine and runs at 1,200 r.p.m.  It carries seven river lamps, a bell, fog horn and has wheel steering and living accommodation.”

The 5 feet will be the moulded depth of the hull and not the gauged draught.

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11 minutes ago, Mike Adams said:

The 5 feet will be the moulded depth of the hull and not the gauged draught.

Correct.

 

The gauged dimensions were 75'0'' x 12'1½'' - stowage length 48'6'' - draught light 16.57'' - draught laden with 81 tons 61'0''.

 

The last few tons of a gauging was usually done by calculation and ended when there is less than 1'' of dry side (freeboard) left, but a boat would never load to this depth as its own bow wave would put it at risk of sinking. This would put the hull depth of PROGRESS at between 61'' and 62'' :captain:

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On 08/07/2019 at 19:09, Tumshie said:

Or he might just be saying that it's 12' 6" because he's "Very upset about all the speculation that's taken place on the forum"

 

 

The boat has been freed from bridge 24, it passed by me at lock 5. spoke with a chap on board and asked him how wide the boat was, his reply 12'6" at waterline 14' at gunwales. 

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5 minutes ago, F DRAYKE said:

spoke with a chap on board and asked him how wide the boat was, his reply 12'6" at waterline 14' at gunwales. 

Why stop at the waterline I'm sure it's narrower still a little lower down. ?

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32 minutes ago, pete harrison said:

The gauged dimensions were 75'0'' x 12'1½''

How does 12 foot six suddenly become 12 foot 1 1/2 inches, which Is a very strange measurement ?  Are we including rubbing strakes and rivets ?

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32 minutes ago, F DRAYKE said:

The boat has been freed from bridge 24, it passed by me at lock 5. spoke with a chap on board and asked him how wide the boat was, his reply 12'6" at waterline 14' at gunwales. 

Mine is 14' at the Gunwales and about 1' 6" at the base of the keel.

I wonder where C&RTs 'able to navigate' dimension is taken ?

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