Midnight boaters

VAZON Rail Bridge on the Stainforth & Keadby Canal has been closed to boat traffic since the 1st August.

But Network Rail has decided to give a time for all the boaters stranded there to move by opening the bridge on Wednesday and Thursday from midnight to 1am! Keith Gudgin reports.

Not stated which

However, in giving this notice today, Wednesday, Canal & River Trust have not stated which Wednesday or Thursday. If it is now or in the future as it has only stated a single opening.  It could be yesterday and today or next week. This also depends on whether Network Rail can resolve the problem with the structure to allow it to be opened at those times.

Roger Fox reports that the bridge is fitted with sensors that detect any problems with the structure. On Thursday, 1st August, those sensors alerted Network Rail that its mechanism had a fault.

Adding, for those boaters who have not cruised the tidal Trent to get through Keadby this bridge is not like a normal swing bridge, as it has a unique sliding design, and carries the railway between Doncaster and Scunthorpe.

At the moment the bridge is positioned closed so that train services are unaffected.

Remain closed

However, this means it renders the bridge impassable for canal users and it will remain closed to boaters until specialist teams have completed the necessary repairs.

This is a faulty component in the mechanism that allows the bridge to slide across the canal. The component cannot be repaired, but a new one has to be specially made.

Network Rail teams are working as fast as they can on the repair, we are told, and hope to have the bridge fully operational as soon as possible.

Earlier this year, it was out of action and the canal closed for nine days while one of the canal walls was strengthened, and in 2021 it needed major repairs when it couldn't be closed for rail traffic.