Grantham bridge gets £80,000

Published: Monday, 23 November 2009
A BRIDGE on the Grantham Canal is receiving £80,000 from Leicestershire County Council, and will be modified for boats to pass underneath.

The bridge (43) at Harby will be strengthened and widened to include a footway, and there is the possibility of it including an hydraulic system, which will allow the bridge to be raised for boats, as there is not enough headroom for them to pass underneath.

Abandoned in 1936

The canal was formally abandoned in 1936 and several highway improvement schemes since then have led to the replacement of many of the original arched hump backed bridges with lower ones, restricting navigation, such as the one at Harby.

Lesley Pendleton, of the council's highway department explained:

"It was important that the aspiration of the local residents' groups were incorporated within the proposals for the replacement bridge at Harby.  This is why our engineers have cleverly designed a bridge that will initially sit at existing road level but has the capability of being hydraulically raised and lowered in the future, to an appropriate height, to enable the passage of boats."

Since 1990, one road bridge, three farm-bridges and one foot bridge have been restored to navigable height and five locks have been restored on the waterway.