Canal towpath work starts on the 14th!

The Project to upgrade the 2.2km section of canal towpath between Bath (A36
Beckford Road) and Bathampton will get underway on Monday 14th March 2016.

That’s according to Alison Sherwin who is the Senior Engineer (Accessibility and Cycling) for B&NES.

In an email to interested parties she says:

‘Works will be carried out by Kier (Canal & River Trust’s contractor) and are
expected to last for up to 18 weeks, with a scheduled completion of Friday 15th
July 2016. This will be just in time for the start of the school summer
holidays.
The project is being undertaken in partnership between Canal & River Trust and
Bath and North East Somerset Council and is being funded predominantly via the
Department for Transport’s, City Cycle Ambition Fund 2.
The works in brief will comprise of the following:

1. Scarify the full width of the existing towpath and widen where
required to make up an overall width of 2.5m of finished towpath
2. Lay 50mm thick dense bitumen macadam upon a 100mm type 1 sub-base
3. To finish, lay a surface dressing of tar spray with chippings. The
coloured finish of the chippings will attempt to closely match the existing
limestone surface colour.
4. Upgrade the 300m link path which provides a footpath link from the
canal towpath to/over the Grosvenor river footbridge.

Works are scheduled to commence at Bathampton and work west back towards Bath.
The contractors main compound is to be situated at Darlington Wharf/A36 and
this will start to be assembled during the w/c 7th March 2016.

The canal will remain open to navigation throughout the works, but sections of
the towpath will be closed to the public. However, access for residents and
boaters (to and from their boats) will be maintained throughout and managed by
the works contractor.

For towpath users, there is a towpath diversion via
Candy’s Bridge/Meadow Lane which is around the mid-point of the site, meaning
50% of the towpath (not being worked) will always remain open. A temporary
pathway is to be created from the towpath on to Candy’s Bridge/Meadow Lane to
facilitate the diversion.’