WATERWAYS charity Canal & River Trust is carrying out dredging on the Ashby Canal in Leicestershire as part of vital works to help ensure boaters can continue to use the centuries-old waterway.
The dredging will see the charity remove around 7000 tons of sediment at various locations on the canal between Sutton Cheney and Market Bosworth, a distance of almost four miles.
The work is carried out using a special floating digger which will haul out silt which has accumulated on the bottom of the canal and load it into a hopper barge to be taken away.
Paul Fox, senior project manager at Canal & River Trust, said: “Dredging is just one part of the vital ongoing programme of maintenance we carry out to make sure that our historic canals are navigable for boaters and so that they are available to benefit wildlife and for local people to use and enjoy.
“With time and climate change taking their toll on the nation’s ageing waterways, our charity is grateful for the public support we receive to help us carry out projects like this and ensure we keep our canals alive for future generations.”
The trust is also shoring up a 150-metre section of the canal’s bank near Shenton. As part of the work, silt dredged from the canal will be used as ‘backfill’. The remainder of the nutrient-rich dredged material will be unloaded and spread on to a canalside farmer’s field near Far Coton.
Completed in 1804, the Ashby Canal is lock-free which makes it popular with novice boaters and people hiring holiday boats. Dredging is an important part of the Canal & River Trust’s ongoing work to keep the canal open and boats moving. Nationwide the charity spends around £7 million per year removing tens of thousands of tons of sediment from the bottom of its canals.
