Canal and River Trust: Additional Investments in Dredging Projects

August 6, 2014

The Canal and River Trust has announced a £3m package of additional investment in the waterways to improve the experience for boaters and other visitors.

Around £2m will fund dredging projects on the Erewash Canal, Trent & Mersey and a number of sections of the North Stratford Canal. “This completes the full £7m dredging program that we will deliver this year, as part of the commitment to deliver £80m of dredging over the ten years from 2013,” they stated.

In addition, just over £1m of new money will go into a variety of other customer service improvements such as further vegetation management, repairing waterway walls and towpaths, improving sanitary stations and mooring locations and making lock operation easier.

“This additional investment is available because we are anticipating that we will exceed our revenue target for the year and earn more money than originally planned,” they announced.

The investment will be targeted at specific projects across the network, identified locally from customer feedback.

The projects

The projects will take place between now and April 2015, and the breakdown of the additional investment is as follows:

– North Stratford Canal dredging – £400,000;

– Trent & Mersey Canal dredging – £200,000;

– Erewash Canal dredging – £500,000;

– National spot dredging program – £900,000;

– Towpath improvements including wash wall – £375,000;

– Sanitary station improvements – £225,000;

– Offside vegetation with access improvements – £225,000;

– Visitor mooring improvements – £165,000;

– Lock operation improvements – £55,000.