Fix on fail?
RECENTLY narrowboatworld published a statement, presumably by the manager of Central Shires, regarding the work done on the canals in that region, writes Ralph Freeman.
All I can say is during the main 2013 boating season his maintenance staff must have been issued with Harry Potter style 'invisibility cloaks' such has been their presence on the towpath!
Meaningless targets
In my opinion targets are meaningless if they are set internally and not representative of the actual time to do the job. For instance if, I set myself a target of 8hrs to do a 1hr job, like changing the oil and filter on my engine, then I could hit that target 100% of time. What the setting of targets and the figures quoted, presumably by the head of Central Shires, does indicate though is the mind-set of those involved.
What seems to be important to them is the setting of (bogus?) targets for jobsworths to monitor, rather than having staff on the towpath doing real maintenance! Still, anyone 'flying a desk' with a computer can churn out meaningless data for propaganda purposes. Fixing a problem with a lock is a different matter altogether!
Temporary?
Whilst on the subject of targets, I just wonder what the target is for installing handrails on the bridge across the tail of Hoo Mill Lock? The 'temporary' ones shown in the photograph have been there for around 18 months now!
Surely all that was required was to adapt a perfectly good design, such as those at Meaford a few miles further up the Trent & Mersey and get them fabricated? A private sector business would class such a task as trivial and have it sorted in a few weeks. Why has it taken so long I ask?
Work done
Boaters may not have seen much, if anything, in the way of 'proper maintenance' in the Central Shires region during the summer, but to be fair there has been some work done. The photo shows one of the new sections of fence complete with number, that have appeared at culverts along one stretch of the Trent & Mersey.
Not far away work has been done improving the towpath below Sandon Lock, so I find the suggestion made by someone in Central Shires that:
'The towpath works referred to must have been the improvements on the Trent & Mersey between Barlaston and Meaford which were funded entirely by Staffs County Council' somewhat hard to understand? Do Central Shires staff not know what work has been going on in its area?
Culvert Issues
During November 2012 at a meeting in the Star Inn, Stone I handed over photographs to Darren Green and John Dodwell showing problems around Sandon Lock The photos included ones of the flooded pound above the lock and the excess water flowing down the bywash. (The failed culvert is just a few yards upstream of the bywash exit shown in the adjacent photo)
I suggested at the time, putting this sort of pressure on old brickwork was not a good idea. I was informed that culverts were inspected every six months so there would not be a problem. That being the case, why did the one at Sandon suddenly fail and result in an important road being closed; much to the annoyance of the local pub the Dog & Doublet, which lost most of it's trade, for several weeks. Not good PR I would have thought and I suspect a compensation claim may be on it's way?
The state of the external brickwork at the base of the wall by the culvert was in a very poor state, so did it not occur to anyone that the brickwork in the culvert itself might be in need of attention, especially as it had been subjected to excess flows of water six times in the previous seven months due to flooding?
Fix on fail?
Allan Richards hit the nail on the head when he coined that phrase! All the evidence suggests the present policy is just that; don't 'waste' time and money on prevention, let the failure occur, get May Gurney to fix it and then CaRT can use the 'incident' to issue the normal propaganda—look what a good job we are doing! The fact the failure may have caused disruption, not just to boaters, but to people who live near the canal plus the resulting cost could be several orders of magnitude higher than a spot of timely preventative maintenance is, of course, ignored. That was the gist of my meeting with John Dodwell and Darren Green now over 12 months ago, but as I wrote in narrowboatworld at the time, it was a waste of time in my opinion.
I wonder if either of the two persons mentioned above would put a missing slate on the roof of their house on a list of 'jobs to be done in the next financial year' then wait for the resulting water ingress to damage the house and bring down the bedroom ceiling before attending to the problem? That is exactly the methodology being used on the canals. Ignore the warning signs, don't attend to the problem in a timely fashion and wait for the resulting failure. Madness!
Leaking locks
Many locks now have water leaking out of the tail when the lock is full. Apparently 'this is not a problem', but if those expressing that point of view visited those locks in winter after a hard frost (like boaters do) and saw the distortion caused by the trapped water freezing then they might take a different view? Large cracks are often visible then, but rumour has it CaRT staff are not allowed 'out' in such 'bad' conditions!
Changing the culture
I wish Richard Parry the best of luck with his endeavours to change the relationship between boaters and CaRT. In my opinion he has made a very good start, however, changing the culture of a (Civil Service based) organisation is known to be very hard to do. For example, does CaRT ever treat boaters as valued customers; why are CaRT's offices at Fazeley only open to boaters from 10am to 2pm?
I understand canal inspections from a CaRT work boat are now once per year, whereas they used to be quarterly. Boaters, who use a stretch regularly, can see problems developing well before anyone walking the towpath will. However, it has been my experience that providing senior waterways managers with even photographic evidence of problems is a waste of time. They will just claim that 'we know about it' or 'it's on the list' or 'it's not a problem'.
No one expects a 200 year old canal to be perfect. However, I think Richard Parry has a difficult task on his hands convincing boaters, on the likes of the Trent & Mersey, in particular, that those responsible for the upkeep of the canals do actually care about the state of the canals we love so much. Evidence suggests otherwise! This must change, so good luck Richard and please replace the propaganda with action!