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Standedge tunnel clearance gauge


b0atman

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Having been through the tunnel several times recently, I would class navigating this tunnel as one of the hardest tasks any boater can face on the English waterways.

 

I'm not sure I would agree with that at all, although I'm always glad to emerge at the other end. It does require a lot of concentration, but the 'chaperones' are excellent, and will guide you exactly as to how and where to steer through the trickiest bits, where to slow down, etc., as well as in some cases acting as a very informative guide to the features of the tunnel.

 

BTW, Fred Carter, 'Mr Standedge Tunnel' is retiring this year after looking after the tunnel and surrounding reservoirs, etc. for more years than anyone can remember, from long, long before it was reopened for navigation.

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Not quite true, I remember a very young Fred starting work on the HNC, for BW, He was also the "lad" that took us into the tunnel in 1976 with Brain Haskins and John Freeman the two area engineers for Wigan and Northwich. It was Fred that had to leap over the side to get the boat over the fall, those were the days. Fred is already working on run down days, leading to full retirement.

Mac of C - I'm intrigued to know what you think is harder, maybe Trent Falls, but you normally check the weather first before doing that, and then its not that bad, well unless you mate misses the gravel bar and you sit on the mud to await the flood, but that is just scary ;) Or maybe spinning your loaded barge to come down the Osse backwards at Selby, so you can take the cut, but that is basically just understanding what you are doing, and having practised on a wider bit first under the guidance of an old hand. Standedge is an hour and a half of high concentration, plus the rest of the tunnel.

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  • 3 months later...

Hi Peeps, we're en-route for Standedge Tunnel in the next 7 days or so (we're moored at Brighouse for the next day or so and haven't booked yet) and moh is getting a little nervous about the tunnel. I kind of do all the planning and research and have assured him that a chaperone will be on the stern with him (according to this thread and the CRT site) but have also said that if he's not comfortable doing it he must tell me... I said I'd check with you peeps (and will ring CRT tomorrow) that there is definitely always a chaperone accompanying the helmsman? unsure.png

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Hi Peeps, we're en-route for Standedge Tunnel in the next 7 days or so (we're moored at Brighouse for the next day or so and haven't booked yet) and moh is getting a little nervous about the tunnel. I kind of do all the planning and research and have assured him that a chaperone will be on the stern with him (according to this thread and the CRT site) but have also said that if he's not comfortable doing it he must tell me... I said I'd check with you peeps (and will ring CRT tomorrow) that there is definitely always a chaperone accompanying the helmsman? unsure.png

You will definitely have a CRT guy on the boat with you all through the passage Its an experience we are about to repeat in about a fortnight.

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Went through for the tenth time 3 months back. The 'chaperones' are very good, and will carefully guide you through the difficult bits, but of course their style varies. Fred Carter, "Mr Standedge" has retired. Terry is very enthusiastic, and will gladly point out every little piece of history, but will understand if you tell him you're CONCENTRATING. I don't particularly like tunnels, but Standedge is my usual route south, and this year for the first time I can actually say I enjoyed it.

 

I've only once been held up by water levels, when someone didn't close the paddles properly on lock 42E, and the top pound and tunnel level fell by a foot. It took 2 days to fill up again. Generally the water levels are very closely controlled.

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Just as a matter of interest - are there any additional restrictions on a pair wanting to transit the tunnel? Or is it just so difficult that no-one does?

Could be if you want someone steering the butty a hotel pair had all kinds of problems i believe and ended up strapping the tiller straight as Bw did not appear to have H&S paperwork for this!

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I hesitated to enter this thread because my blood pressure is bound to go up......3 years ago I was intending to go that way on my long promised tour of Northern canals, I phoned up about details and was told we don't allow GRP boats there. When I asked why I was fed the most incredible list of obstructionist rubbish that I have ever come across. I was told that my boat was unreliable.....at the time it had a 2 cyl vetus diesel with less than 50 hrs on the clock. I was then told that my drive system was unreliable....it has a PRM gearbox with a conventional shaft and prop AND a weed hatch... I was then told I was too big.....25'6" length 6'4" beam 5' airdraft with well tapered cabin sides......then it was too fragile.....its built like a proverbial brick outhouse and is fitted with steel capped rubbing strakes for anyone who knows the breed its an Ormelite cruiser probably the best ever small grp cruiser designed to go anywhere on the canal system

 

its ridiculous that who can go where and when is decided by the prejudices of some narrow minded............!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

 

This is another example of a lack of flexibility.

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you would maybe damage your boat but surely not the tunnel sounds like you got a jobsworth.

 

The rules on what goes through the tunnel are there because whilst you could say that its your boat and you can decide whether to risk it, ultimately it is CRT who are going to have an issue on their hands if you hole the boat and sink mid-tunnel.

 

Standedge has a number of projecting bolts under the waterline, and not long after opening, a plywood boat caught on one and sank.

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The rules on what goes through the tunnel are there because whilst you could say that its your boat and you can decide whether to risk it, ultimately it is CRT who are going to have an issue on their hands if you hole the boat and sink mid-tunnel.

 

Standedge has a number of projecting bolts under the waterline, and not long after opening, a plywood boat caught on one and sank.

 

So they require a ultrasonic survey of the boats they let through? That's a specious argument, a heavy laid up GRP hull is no more likely to be holed than a good percentage of the steel boats on the cut. Remember they build minesweepers out of GRP

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  • 4 months later...

We know that Standedge tunnel has height and width problems but why do you have to get right to the tunnel to find ot that you are too high or wide to pass through surely some means could be devised to have check gauges remote from tunnel with compensating device for different water levels ?

As a PS to this.

I understand that in 2015 CART will be formulating plans for improving the passage of the HNC in 2015/16. The work will include a review of the existing dimensional restrictions on boats passing through Standedge Tunnel.

 

CART (Area Manager) need information on .

 

1). Boats, which are larger than the existing official tunnel gauge but which have passed through successfully in the recent past. (This has been a recurring problem & would seem to prove the existing gauge is now out of date).

 

2). Pinch points within the tunnel which need to be removed in relation to the length of boat in question. i.e. A 55’-00” will pass with relative ease, 72” is tight.

 

 

3). Information on boat tumblehome is also required.

 

The intention of the review is to improve the number of boats visiting the HNC.

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1). Boats, which are larger than the existing official tunnel gauge but which have passed through successfully in the recent past. (This has been a recurring problem & would seem to prove the existing gauge is now out of date).

 

 

 

The intention of the review is to improve the number of boats visiting the HNC.

This begs a few questions:

 

If a boat is larger than the gauge, how can it have passed through? It would have been turned back.

 

There have been cases of boats transiting the tunnel, then getting stuck in locks, both east and west. Are these locks going to be reconstructed? That would be a greater undertaking than chipping bits of rock off tunnel pinch points.

 

There is a present limit of nine boats a week each way through the tunnel. Is it proposed to increase this? Although there are plans for volunteer pilots, increasing this would need more personnel both in vehicles and on boats, and also affect the trip boats - the only moneymaking operation!

Edited by Mac of Cygnet
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There is a present limit of nine boats a week each way through the tunnel. Is it proposed to increase this? Although there are plans for volunteer pilots, increasing this would need more personnel both in vehicles and on boats, and also affect the trip boats - the only moneymaking operation!

Having been a previous moorer at Aspley in Hudds, I reckon that the limit of 9 boats a week is rarely met at the moment. Certainly, boats passing through were a rare sight. So I don't think that's limiting anything.

 

When I first arrived at Aspley, I was passing the boats moored by Sainsburys at tickover and 2 moorers came out and hollered at me to slow down! I was flabbergasted at the time but after mooring there for a while I realised it's just that they aren't used to passing boats.

 

Now I moor in the centre of Birmingham where we have trip boats going up and down at a fair clip until around 11.00pm! One extreme to the other.

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Good question Mac.

 

Unfortunately the answer is not so good!! In fact it is ridiculous and it is believed to have done much to put others off the passage.

 

More than one 70' boat traveling from East to West has been stopped from going through. Only after considerable agro have they been allowed to pass.

 

More than one boat has been through several times but has then been gauged as over size. Again more agro before being allowed to pass.

 

Last year we passed through with no beam problem but did have a problem with an east side lock which we overcame.

 

As I said the review will be for all the canal. The lock problems included.

 

As you said if boats get stuck in locks but not in the tunnel then we are or could be just talking about re-printing a dimension or two on the tunnel guide. So no cost but a lot less agro, & bad press.

 

Passage

We tried to book on a particular day & were told booked out. Went earlier but did not see any boats go through the day it was booked out ?

 

Other options are under consideration for passage numbers.

 

But depend on technical and H&S items, the most significant problem now, is the low intermittent roof supports at the east end of the tunnel which are not visible to many steerers. After the tunnel light has passed the beams can be invisible to steerers & can be at head height.

 

This problem was hi lighted after events this year.

 

The trip boat operation is also a problem & needs yet another review. Making much better use of the old lift in the Warehouse is one option.

The original Warehouse operation was something of a joke, but instead of commercialising it properly the current system was put in place & the building is now very underused.

A lost money making opportunity as you say.

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Yes, I know that not all bookable days are actually available, due to personnel being deployed on other work.

 

Actually, I'm quite surprised that a tunnel passage fee has not been introduced - is there some rule stopping them doing this? I would be quite happy to pay (say) £10 but even that would only cover a fraction of the costs of what must be the most labour-intensive stretch of water on the whole system.

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Yes, I know that not all bookable days are actually available, due to personnel being deployed on other work.

 

Actually, I'm quite surprised that a tunnel passage fee has not been introduced - is there some rule stopping them doing this? I would be quite happy to pay (say) £10 but even that would only cover a fraction of the costs of what must be the most labour-intensive stretch of water on the whole system.

Surely the actual cost must be in the hundreds of pounds per boat, by the time you have your chaperon, plus the van buzzing along the railway tunnel to check you are safe. We are planning a trip this summer so let's hope we get the date we want........ we will be in a Shire cruisers boat so no problem with dimensions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

edited to add a missing apostrophe!

Edited by NickF
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However I know of at least two boats that have supposedly checked out their dimensions but have been turned back on arrival.. Also be aware that one of the locks on the eastern side is very narrow. (Can't remember the details, but I did see one boat stuck and had to turn back).

I understand that most often it is due to a failure to make due allowance for tumblehome. Our experience is that they measure prior to attempting to go under the tunnel guage, whilst waiting for the pilot and doing the safety briefing.

Six months of CCing and walking miles everyday we had lost weight!! smile.png they let us through in the end but it was only because the Leeds Liverpool and Rochdale were closed we also filled the watertank good for a few inches

 

Peter

On both occasions when we have been through they staff directed us to the water point before doing anything else!

Like a lot of "restricted areas" it isn't so much the height, from memory I think that is more of an issue on say the Harefield than Standedge, it's the tumblehome. The boat we had at the time had very pronounced tumblehome so we had no problems with the cabin sides, but the wooden taff rail, which had a vertical profile, got caught a couple of times.

 

I'd just like to repeat the point about the unique nature of Standedge, it is not at all like the tunnels most people are used to, it really is more like boating through a cave system with all the exposed rock and jagged edges, and that's why as Mac says when boats were taken through unmanned some form of damage was inevitable.

and it is the air draft for everything, not just the cabin roof! Some boats have managed to comply by removing items otherwise seen as fixtures!

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We lost a bit of paint during our last transit. My fault as I was more interested in the tunnel than steering. Not to worried about a bit of paint,easy enough to touch it up .In my opinion,the trans Pennine circuit using the Huddersfield and Rochdale canals is a truly great canal journey .I remember that a Sea Otter was not allowed through,due to the width of the rubber fender! Acording to the width gauge,our boat is only 6ft9" so we had no problems(when I was looking where I was steering)

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I was told by a B.W. person that they had to guarantee that the Huddersfield Narrow Canal stayed open for 15 years to qualify for grant aid .Bearing in mind when it was re-opened,this guarantee is running out rapidly. One of the reasons why some days are not available for passage is given that the passenger boat is in use on these days. Due to failure of the telephone system,we were unable to transit the tunnel on the booked day,back in July this year .We were allowed through the next day and followed the trip boat through part of the tunnel. Did not seem to cause any problem .Anything that increases use of the canal must be a good thing!

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I was told by a B.W. person that they had to guarantee that the Huddersfield Narrow Canal stayed open for 15 years to qualify for grant aid .Bearing in mind when it was re-opened,this guarantee is running out rapidly. One of the reasons why some days are not available for passage is given that the passenger boat is in use on these days. Due to failure of the telephone system,we were unable to transit the tunnel on the booked day,back in July this year .We were allowed through the next day and followed the trip boat through part of the tunnel. Did not seem to cause any problem .Anything that increases use of the canal must be a good thing!

 

Whoever mentioned 15 years was wrong!

 

The millenium grant awarded in 1997 came with two main long term commitments;

 

1) A commitment from the councils (Oldham, Tameside and Kirklees) to make payments of £150k per annum for 20 years, into a "sinking fund"

2) A commitment from BW that in consideration of the grant, they would use the sinking fund and the remainder waterway income to keep the canal open for at least 125 years.

 

We are close to the end of the payments into the sinking fund, but not of the guarantee period.

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Whoever mentioned 15 years was wrong!

 

The millenium grant awarded in 1997 came with two main long term commitments;

 

1) A commitment from the councils (Oldham, Tameside and Kirklees) to make payments of £150k per annum for 20 years, into a "sinking fund"

2) A commitment from BW that in consideration of the grant, they would use the sinking fund and the remainder waterway income to keep the canal open for at least 125 years.

 

We are close to the end of the payments into the sinking fund, but not of the guarantee period.

I am pleased to see that some or all of the "sinking fund" is being spent at lock9w this winter. New gates all round will go a long way to preventing further embarrassing err sinkingslaugh.png .Also, those horrible hydraulic opening bottom gates at lock1w have now been replaced by cranked beam gates with conventional paddle gear. Good job and well done CRT. (Praise indeed from me!)

Bill

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I am pleased to see that some or all of the "sinking fund" is being spent at lock9w this winter. New gates all round will go a long way to preventing further embarrassing err sinkingslaugh.png .Also, those horrible hydraulic opening bottom gates at lock1w have now been replaced by cranked beam gates with conventional paddle gear. Good job and well done CRT. (Praise indeed from me!)

Bill

 

I saw the lifting gear at Whitelands, but hadn't had time to take a look.

 

The hydraulic gates were truly Satan's work!

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