£500k plan to improve canal (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

£500k plan to improve canal

BRITISH Waterways is splashing out £500,000 to dredge sections of the Kennet and Avon Canal this autumn.

Engineers will remove build-ups of silt on the canal bed that could hamper boat navigation over time.

Work will start in November and British Waterways hopes the investment will help open up access to visitor moorings along the busiest sections of the canal.

Service manager Eliza Botham said: "This dredging is part of our commitment to improve the service for boaters on the Kennet and Avon Canal.

"Boats are central to the waterways and are an attraction for the many thousands of visitors who use the canal towpath each year for walking, running, cycling and fishing or simply to enjoy this 200-year-old waterway network."

During the winter British Waterways will also be replacing lock gates and carrying out general repairs to the canal's infrastructure.

The canal will remain open throughout the dredging work, which will be carried out by contractors Land & Water Services and Blue Boar contracts.

Throughout 2005-06 British Waterways is spending £7m on dredging 2,000 miles of canals and rivers across Great Britain.