THE ASHBY CANAL WILL BE better for boaters cruising the waterway in future.
As Canal & River Trust are busy dredging the canal.
And in the process telling it is removing tons of sediment from the waterways to improve conditions for boaters.
Nine weeks
The dredging, that started in early March is lasting for around nine weeks, and will see it invest over £400,000 in removing around 4,600 cubic metres of sediment from the bed of the canal.
The works will focus on stretches of canal over a 6km length between Sutton Wharf Bridge, near Sutton Cheney, and Wykin Bridge, near Hinckley. (Picture by Canal & River Trust)
The work is carried out using a digger, which is secured to a barge, and will haul out accumulations of silt from the bottom of the canal and load it into a hopper barge to be taken away. The material will be taken to nearby agricultural land where, once it’s dried, will be spread onto fields to fertilise the soil.
It is the second phase of dredging works on the Ashby Canal after works took place last year between Sutton Cheney and Market Bosworth.
Cut back trees
As part of the project, the trust has also cut back trees overhanging the water, widening the channel available to boaters and improving lines of sight along the canal, with the trust relating:
"Dredging is an important part of our ongoing work to keep the canal open and boats moving. Nationwide, we spend around £7million per year removing tens of thousands of tonnes of sediment from the bottom of its canals."