Whatever project we’re involved in, we offer flexible solutions, specialist consultancy, project management skills and a superb knowledge of land restoration.

Brief project information:

The location:	Droitwich Barge Canal, Droitwich
The project:	To restore 12 km of waterway and construct 1 km of new cut to re-link the Barge Canal with the Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Hanbury.
Timescale:	During the winters of 2008 and 2009.
PDF:	Download case study - Droitwich Barge Canal

The location:

Droitwich Barge Canal opened in 1771 to enable the ‘Wich’ barges to transport the salt produced in the town. But by 1828, Droitwich’s dominance in the salt trade had to begun to decline and the railways had largely taken over.

In 1854, in an attempt to revive trade, the Droitwich Junction Canal was built to link the Barge Canal to the Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Hanbury. It was one of the last canals to be built in England.

By 1939, the canals had all but been abandoned by commercial vessels and until 1970, were largely left to their own devices. Over the years, some parts had been lost to development or blocked by road crossings but the majority of them remained intact, although in poor condition.

The project:

Much of the canal was badly silted and encroached with common reeds. The navigation and access to the towpaths and water were poor and major funding was needed to transform the canals and contribute towards the economic regeneration of Droitwich.

Many of the existing locks needed restoring and there were plans to construct four new locks, along with lock landings and canoe pontoons.

But first, the canal had to be dredged and the silt thoroughly tested for contamination so that it could be appropriately disposed of or redistributed for agricultural use.

Why Blue Boar?

The de-silting needed to take place from the water, and we had the necessary equipment and expertise to carry out the work safely and efficiently.

We also came highly recommended by the dredging team at British Waterways who had worked with us on previous projects. They trusted our knowledge of environmental considerations and knew that we would be flexible about deadlines and time constraints.

The challenges:

• Over the years, some silt had become contaminated with hydrocarbons in places. We used the full suite of contamination testing every 50 metres to enable us to identify and isolate any contaminated material.
• Because the contamination we found was oil based, the silt wasn’t able to be redistributed. We trialled the use of Geotubes to de-water the silt so that it could be transported to landfill more easily and cost-effectively. Around 8,000m3 was dried out and removed over a four month period.
• The rest of the silt was distributed to local farmland for agricultural improvement. We liaised with the farmers, applied for exemptions to the environment agency and submitted the relevant paperwork.
• To compensate for the loss of reeds in the canal, the equivalent of every square metre of reed water habitat had to be recreated.

The outcome:

All in all, 11,000m3 of silt was dredged from the canals and either disposed of or redistributed. We also installed three lock landings, bridge plates with numbers, a flood relief weir and a series of interpretation panels.

To improve the biodiversity of the area and provide a habitat for warblers and other wildlife, we translocated the reeds removed from the canal to the second biggest reed bed in Worcestershire.

Overall, the canal is massively improved and far more accessible for cyclists, walkers, fishermen and boaters. It is now well used by local people and British Waterways estimates that it is attracting an extra 322,000 visitor days each year.

Public sector and Large commercial contracts

In this section

• Droitwich Barge Canal
• River Weaver
• The Grand Western Canal