Not long after BW 'improved the headroom in the Tunnel@ by actually dropping the water level a couple of inches at the overflow weir to reduce water ingress into the copper works I was talking to a boater by the tunnel. He was a civil engineer and, having heard what BW had paid for 'dropping the level' had been studying the tunnel with the idea of raising it by the odd foot to let all boats through. He saw no obvious problem and felt that his firm could have raised the roof for half of what BW had spent on their 'dropping the level'. Of course this is a few years back now - when the height curtain went up at the lock but is the tunnel not allowed to be raised, with the road over having strengthening to stop it breaking through?
--- On Thu, 26/8/10, martinludgate <[email protected]> wrote: From: martinludgate <[email protected]> Subject: [canals-list] Re: Froghall Basin - Uttoxeter Canal To: [email protected] Date: Thursday, 26 August, 2010, 9:47 --- In [email protected], "Tim Boddington" <t...@...> wrote: > > Would it be absolute sacrilege to suggest that the tunnel should be opened > out? It is without doubt the most pointless tunnel ever built - the towpath > runs at normal level only 20 feet or so on open ground to the side of the > tunnel! If I remember rightly (*) the tunnel wasn't an original feature of the canal, which stopped just short of where the tunnel entrance now is. The reason for the towpath's fairly level, wide route around the tunnel is because it used the former route of an extension of the tramway from Cauldon Low. Have I remembered rightly? (*) as in I remember reading it a long time ago. I'm not quite that old. Martin L [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
