Hungerford dredging on the Kennet & Avon completed

BOATS cruising the Kennet & Avon Canal around Hungerford have benefited from a recently completed dredging programme. on the canal near Hungerford.

The dredging now completed was from Dun Mill Lock to Marsh Lock with Canal & River Trust telling it removed 6,000 cubic metres of silt that had built up over the years.

Peter Birch, Asset Manager at the trust, explains:

Benefit of people and wildlife

"Dredging is part of the regular cycle of maintenance we are constantly doing to keep the canal open and available for the benefit of people and nature.

“Dredging this section was shown in our surveys as a top priority so we are delighted to have got the job done. It has improved navigation and mooring in the area for boating customers for many years to come.

"Over 9,000 tonnes of material was removed from the canal between Locks 73 and 75 with most of the material helping to improve the soil on a farmer’s field on the outskirts of Hungerford.”

The dredging was carried out over a nine weeks period.