Wide boat boating..?

[rivergate]

How far up the Grand Union could a 9 foot boat go with an air draft /cabin height of about 5 and half foot get..?

Are there any tight bridge oles or pinch places...?

..Ive passed some big dutch boats around and north of Braunston recently - are these boated up or craned in..?

Thanks

 

[DrRD211]

We've been to the top of the Hatton Flight on our 10 ft widebeam. If I remember correctly, a lot of the bridges were low after Stockton Locks. Watch out for the Blue Lias bridge at the bottom of those locks, it's a bit awkward and apparently quite notorious. 

[Alan de Enfield]

Basically you can go anywhere North of "A, B, C", or, anywhere North of "A, B, C" but you cannot cross the 'line'

 

Anywhere on the attached plan with a dark-blue line you are definitely OK (subject to Bridge heights), anywhere with a light-blue line you are unlikely to be able to pass.

 

 

[rivergate]

..thanks guys  -

Ive got the map but doesn't show bridge oles as it were...I figured? the bridge at Blue Lias would be a squeeze but if a 10' has gone through I guess it will be ok..?  What's the air shape of your wide beam please..?

Thanks

[Ian Mac]

Forgets to mention that Dutton Stop at the southern end of Preston Brook Tunnel is only about 9ft wide, although the canal from there on to Croxton Aqueduct is 14ft, including the lift. Not aware of any short boats have attempting this. Shellfen has been To Croxton.
Originally Mersey flats went all the way up to Middlewich to get milk for Liverpool. Thus the wide Big Lock.

--

Cheers Ian Mac

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

You will need to book a passage with CaRT through the Blisworth and Braunston tunnels. Although they are wide beam tunnels they need to prevent anyone starting through from the other direction and the tunnel is clear before you start. 48 hours notice I believe and only available 8am Monday to Friday. Check on boaters guidehttp://www.waterscape.com/things-to-do/boating/guides

Jen

[Victor Vectis]

You might be able to take a fatarse oops, sorry widebeam halfway up the GU to Brum, but........................

 

.......................please don't.

[rivergate]

4 hours ago, Victor Vectis said:

You might be able to take a fatarse oops, sorry widebeam halfway up the GU to Brum, but........................

 

.......................please don't.

..you are not a fan of fat arses..? 

[Victor Vectis]

Depends who or what they are attached to!

[rivergate]

Haha -so its me you dont want boating a fat arse up the GU rather than fat arses themselves!  ..that's charming..  

[matty40s]

You won't get a boat wider than 8 foot South of Saddington tunnel without taking paint off due to trees ....and you won't get anything wider than about 9 foot to Foxton now with the landslide having been "stabilised" and not removed. 

This is from yesterday's cruise notes. 

[rivergate]

Thank you

[Ray T]

This is a fat wide beam built for the GU. BW did a trial with it towing a wide butty to somewhere near Birmingham but as it had to wait for the butty to follow through locks it was deemed uneconomic. Progress was also use at the opening ceremony of the widened GU circa 1934.

Chris Collins is rebuilding Progress, there is a thread: 

 

Edited April 2, 2017 by Ray T

[matty40s]

Someone said the other day that the Leicester summit was built to widebeam dimensions. (Frankhn? ?), it wasn't. 

Most of the accommodation bridges were built to standard GU guidelines for horse drawn boats... motor and butty being a thing of the future then.

Any improvements since were done to accommodate motors with butty, however, a lot of the bridges really do bend in quickly on the offside and I doubt any modern widebeam over 9 foot wide would find the experience a pleasant one.

[Ray T]

9 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Someone said the other day that the Leicester summit was built to widebeam dimensions. (Frankhn? ?), it wasn't. 

Most of the accommodation bridges were built to standard GU guidelines for horse drawn boats... motor and butty being a thing of the future then.

Any improvements since were done to accommodate motors with butty, however, a lot of the bridges really do bend in quickly on the offside and I doubt any modern widebeam over 9 foot wide would find the experience a pleasant one.

Whilst the summit may not have been built to wide dimensions the plan for the inclined plane was to, at some time, cater for wide boats:

"With the coming of the railways, competition was starting to bite. Fellows Morton and Clayton (FMC) wanted to use bigger boats to take coal from the north to the London factories. They promoted a take-over of the Leicester line of the canal by the Grand Junction Canal Company (see Local Waterways). The takeover was successful and FMC promised to put more narrowboats on the canal until the locks at Watford (Gap) and Foxton could be widened. 

GJCCo engineer Gordon Cale Thomas was put in charge of the project. Wide locks were dismissed as using too much water from the canal's summit pound. His solution was to build a boat lift to his patented design. "

From here: http://www.fipt.org.uk/lift

Edited April 2, 2017 by Ray T

[matty40s]

I know, but as the Watford end never came to full planning, never mind construction, the bridges and other areas were never improved for wide barges(well designed nicely rounded boats) (As opppsed to the slab sided widebeams now currently being produced by Aintree, Colingwood, Piper, Nottingham Boats, Aqualines etc)

[Drayke]

10 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Basically you can go anywhere North of "A, B, C", or, anywhere North of "A, B, C" but you cannot cross the 'line'

 

Anywhere on the attached plan with a dark-blue line you are definitely OK (subject to Bridge heights), anywhere with a light-blue line you are unlikely to be able to pass.

 

 

Did you mean South of A, B, C, the second time?

Someone made a mistake on the 2, bridge being 10ft 13in.

[alan_fincher]

1 hour ago, Ray T said:

This is a fat wide beam built for the GU. BW did a trial with it towing a wide butty to somewhere near Birmingham but as it had to wait for the butty to follow through locks it was deemed uneconomic.

That's not a version I am familiar with, (even for the GUC trial, let along a BW one much later on).

What sources suggest any trials were done towing an unpowered wide beam craft, please?

The usual reason quoted why they never went ahead with it is that whilst the locks were widened, in general the channel of the canal was not.

But I notice you refer anyway to the later BW trial - that, I thought, never got anywhere near Birmingham, because progress got stuck in bridges long before it got there

[Alan de Enfield]

23 minutes ago, F DRAYKE said:

Did you mean South of A, B, C, the second time?

Well spotted - YES it should have read 'South'

[Drayke]

24 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

That's not a version I am familiar with, (even for the GUC trial, let along a BW one much later on).

What sources suggest any trials were done towing an unpowered wide beam craft, please?

The usual reason quoted why they never went ahead with it is that whilst the locks were widened, in general the channel of the canal was not.

But I notice you refer anyway to the later BW trial - that, I thought, never got anywhere near Birmingham, because progress got stuck in bridges long before it got there

I seem to recall my dad telling me of a trial that took place, I think in the 50s or early 60s on the GU of 100ton barges being pulled by tractors but had to give up due to the canal being to shallow.

[rivergate]

Progress is lovely isn't she - and the work Chris does mind bending  

..it was the bridge oles that I was particularly interested in guys - Ive been around the cut for a few years so understand - broadly the beam stuff - probably should have been more specific in my original question - which are the tight bridge oles for a 9' wide boat going up the GU and how far could it get..? 

Cheers

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, rivergate said:

probably should have been more specific in my original question - which are the tight bridge oles for a 9' wide boat going up the GU and how far could it get..? 

The shape of your top-sides will have a big effect on the bridge 'suitability'.

If, for example you are 5' 6" high for the full 9 feet width far more bridges will be a 'no-go' (due to the shape of the arch) than if you are 7 foot wide at that height.

How much tumblehome do you have ?

[rivergate]

I will get some measurements..

There are some big Dutch boats above Brausnton - does anyone know if they boated there or were they craned in..?

[Detling]

One I can think of a proper dutch barge must have been craned in as the air draft is too high.  Avalon moored at calcutt was framed in there and can only move a few miles as the bridge holes are too small.

 

 

[Up-Side-Down]

On 02/04/2017 at 11:49, rivergate said:

..thanks guys  -

Ive got the map but doesn't show bridge oles as it were...I figured? the bridge at Blue Lias would be a squeeze but if a 10' has gone through I guess it will be ok..?  What's the air shape of your wide beam please..?

Thanks

Blue Lias Road Bridge 23 is actually 12' 6" wide but awkward in its approach and profile.