Waterway restoration

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Part of the Montgomery Canal undergoing restoration
Part of the Montgomery Canal undergoing restoration

Waterway restoration is the activity of restoring a canal or river, including special features such as warehouse buildings, locks, boat lifts, and boats.

Contents

[edit] Waterway restoration in Canada

[edit] Shubenacadie Canal

The Shubenacadie Canal Commission was formed in 1986 to oversee the future of this waterway. Locks three and five have been restored, water levels in the connecting lakes have been stabilized and a visitor center opened. The ten year business plan [1] for 2007-2016 aims to save four more locks and rebuild four water control structures to make the route open for small boats from Lake Banook to the village of Shubenacadie.

[edit] Soulanges Canal

The Soulanges Canal closed in 1958. Today there are plans to reopen the canal to pleasure boats. The mission of the Régie intermunicipale du canal de Soulanges is to manage the development of a tourism development as part of the reopening of the canal. [2]

[edit] Waterway restoration in the United Kingdom

Excavation work at Salwarpe on the Droitwich Canal during 1978 Waterway Recovery Group summer work camp.
Excavation work at Salwarpe on the Droitwich Canal during 1978 Waterway Recovery Group summer work camp.

Due to competition from the railways and the narrow design of most UK canals (which prevented the carriage of economically-sized bulk loads), large parts of the UK's canal system were abandoned in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The rise of the leisure industry in the 1950s meant that the complete abandonment of the remaining canals was avoided.

The increasing use of canals for leisure purposes led some people to consider restoring some of those that had been abandoned. At first, progress was slow due to the lack of funding, with most of the work having to be done manually by volunteers.

As the leisure industry grew, the economic benefits of having a canal became more apparent and some state funding started to appear. At the same time public interest increased the size of various volunteer groups.

At the present time, canal restoration in the UK is carried out by a mixture of volunteers and professionals working on a large variety of projects.

[edit] Waterways under restoration

[edit] Waterway restoration groups in the United Kingdom

[edit] Completed restoration schemes

Waterways are listed in chronological order of re-opening. Most have been completely re-opened, but some (such as the Grand Western Canal and Basingstoke Canal) are only partially complete but have no current plans for work on the rest of the line.

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[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

  • Squire, Roger W, (1983). The New Navvies. A History of the modern waterways restoration movement. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. ISBN 0-85033-364-4.

[edit] External links