Delay on Slough Arm repair

THOUGH Canal & River Trust told that the work on the collapsed bridge on the Slough Arm of the Grand Union Canal would be completed in the middle of June, the opening will be delayed.

Work started in early May, with the promise to the trapped boaters that the waterway would be open on Friday 14th June, but we are now told it will be a week later—Friday 21st June before it can be opened, Alan Tilbury reveals.

It was on Friday 26th April that it was discovered that the brick supports of Reed's Bridge had given way, making the whole structure unstable, with part of the wall slipping into the canal.

Impossible to use a crane

It seems the removal of the actual bridge deck has caused problems as the nearby power lines on one side of the canal and the collapsed part on the other side, make it impossible to use a crane powerful enough to raise the deck. This means it has to be taken to pieces in sections without the use of a crane, causing the delay.

Instead, temporary towers have been constructed on the stone beneath the deck. A further problem has been that there has been a further movement of one of the bridge supports.

In the meantime, there are the estimated 100 boats still trapped on the Arm.