Bridge keepers to go

FIRST it was the demise of lock keepers that have been taken over by unpaid volunteers, and now the trend of Canal & River Trust is to get rid of its mechanised bridge keepers.

The mechanised bridges on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal are being turned into automated systems so that the people operating them can be dispensed with, with Rea Bridge ready to be the first remote controlled, Alan Tilbury tells us.

Redundant

After this Llanthony Bridge (pictured) will be automated followed by the others down to Purton, with those people at present operating them being redundant.

It is estimated that 12 bridge keepers together with a further 17 seasonal staff will go as the bridges are changed from operator controlled to automatic. The high bridges that are not usually moved for narrowboats and such but for tall ships however will not be automated but will be manned when booked.

The new system will use lasers and CCTV to monitor road traffic controlling automated barriers and bridge operation.

Mobile phone to operate

Boaters however will have to install a mobile phone app to operate the bridges, though there is no intimation what will happen if the boater has no mobile phone, a flat battery or is out of range of a signal—some of the bridges being in very remote locations.

Most of the bridges will be so controlled by the middle of next year, after meetings with emergency services and local residents.