Bruce wrote > OTOOH, I've been boating since '75, the last four years as a genuine > cc'er. We've been tying to the Armco ever since it started being widely > used for bank protection, and I can recall maybe one occasion when the > piling has been distorted by our so doing. We use chains passed through > next to a ground anchor point whenever possible, so that the chain > cannot be dragged between the Armco barrier and the piling. > > IMHO, pins are capable of doing vastly more damage to unpiled bank, and > the longer the pin, the worse the damage. How many times do you see > wash wall coping stones toppled into the cut as a result of the > leverage of a pin behind it?
One other benefit of mooring to the Armco that hasn't been mentioned in the debate so far is that the piling hook/chain/ring method prevents any trip hazard to passing pedestrians and cyclists. It also means that you don't have to put out those untidy white plastic bags, empty washing-up-liquid bottles or tennis balls to mark the pins. A further advantage is that the lack of pins with this method allows BW unfettered access to mow the towpath.............um......err......OK then, maybe this isn't so much of an advantage as towpath mowing seems to be as rare as hen's teeth, but in a Utopian world....... > > I reckon, with others in this debate, that most of the damage to Armco > is as a result of impact - some boaters seem to think that the way to > lose forward way is to point the bow at the bank and brace yourself... Yep, absolutely, 15 to 20 tons coming in at even 2mph will do far more damage than any pull that affects an already securely tied boat. Roger
