Crumbling canals

Published: Monday, 11 February 2019

THE headline on a report in The Times last Friday read 'Neglected canals crumbling', writes Roger Fox.

At last, I thought, the media has caught up with CaRT, but I was wrong.

Reflects the UK situation

The story is about Amsterdam but if you ignore the Dutch connection the story reflects the UK situation almost perfectly.

The report says years of neglect combined with wear and tear caused by passing traffic have left Amsterdam’s famous canals in desperate need of repair. The city’s local authority said that it faced a complex, large and urgent task to repair some of the 1,600 bridges and 600km (373 miles) of canals. It added that 10km of canal walls were at severe risk of subsiding'.

More effective

The reported position is so close to that facing much of our canal system. I wouldn’t mind a bet that the Dutch will be rather more effective in their remedial work than CaRT.