I AM NOT sure where some of the folk who send in articles to narrowboatworld get their information from? Writes Ralph Freeman.
Is it personal observations made whilst cruising the system (fine), or from IWA handouts or CaRT propaganda (not good)? Either way I would like to add some facts to correct the latest article on the topic of coir rolls.
Not so
It was recently suggested by Mike Todd that fitting coir rolls instead of replacing piling is a 'new experiment'. Not so I'm afraid !
Here is a photo taken in January 2008 of coir rolls fitted along a perfectly good section of piling on the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal between Fazeley itself and Curdworth No 11 (bottom) lock.
No sensible reason
The rolls could well have been installed before 2008 but that is the date of the first photo I have showing the coir rolls hung on (16 gauge?) makeshift looking steel hooks. Why they were fitted in this location? I've not been able to discover a sensible reason, but as the adjacent gravel pits had just been taken over by the RSPB, the rumour on the towpath at the time, was they were there as a deterrent to prevent boaters mooring along this stretch?
How long were these rolls, supported by their flimsy brackets and the chicken wire likely to last I wonder? Well, most of the plants in the roll soon died as the roots were in water not soil as seen in the photo. Then the brackets rusted through and they sank to the bottom of the canal waiting for a boater to try mooring up against the nice piling; wonderful, imagine a load of coir and chicken wire on your prop?
Not true
So any suggestion this is a new experiment is far from the truth. The 'experiment' started in 2008 (if not earlier) and failed, but apparently it is now being repeated. The inevitable question is why is CaRT wasting money and materials 'testing' techniques that have proven to fail?
There is a word in Engineering for people that don't learn from their mistakes, but I'll leave it up to you fill in that one!