Massive cost of final link
However the contract has been awarded by Stroud District Council to Alun Griffiths (Contractors) Ltd of Abergavenny, and is stated to be one of the biggest engineering challenges on the whole Cotswold Canals restoration between Saul and Lechlade. No companies based in the Stroud District tendered for the work, Alan Tilbury tells us.
Route lost
The original route was lost when the road, Dr Newton's Way, (pictured) was built in the 1980s, which means a new concrete channel will have to be built clinging to the steep contour of the land.
Councillor Keith Pearson, Cabinet Member for Regeneration stated: "It takes restoration well beyond the old Stroudwater Navigation and into the Thames & Severn Canal. This opens up the way to Brimscombe, so it's a really major milestone."
Completed next year
Work is expected to start in April, with completion scheduled for early next year, though there is expected to be traffic disruption and footpaths will be closed.
The cost of the works comes from the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of its £11.9m contribution to canal restoration between Stonehouse and Brimscombe.
This is part of the complete restoration of the Cotswold Canals to eventually complete the link between the Thames and the Severn, a scheme that British Waterways pulled out of through lack of funds.