Thames to get £3.8m maintenance spend
Short stay moorings below Shepperton Lock are to be improved – photo: Waterway Images
The Environment Agency will spend £3.8m on River Thames maintenance works over the 2010-11 winter. Major projects to replace lock gates and refurbish chambers at Hurley and Sandford will take up nearly half the sum.
INLAND WATERWAYS: The Environment Agency (EA) is to spend £3.8m over the 2010/11 winter on a maintenance programme that will see new lock gates and chamber refurbishment, better mooring facilities and improved non-powered boat access, writes Harry Arnold.
Eighteen major structures will benefit from works, with the largest projects at Hurley and Sandford, where locks will receive attention totalling £1.55m. Work will be carried out to replace lock gates and refurbish lock chambers. In total, 15 locks will be affected by temporary closures, with work scheduled to take place during various periods between October 2010 and March 2011.
Other works include upgrading of the short stay moorings at the junction with the River Wey, below Shepperton Lock, which will improve safety and provide better access for disabled people.
The short-stay moorings at Surley Hall Point, upstream of Boveney Lock, Dorney, will be upgraded, the access bridge at Sandford Lock will be replaced and new toilet facilities at Sunbury, Chertsey, Shiplake and Hurley locks will be built. The boat rollers at Sunbury Lock will also be upgraded.
To help boaters plan their journeys on the river while the works are in progress the EA has produced a handy map, detailing the work taking place and how long locks will be closed. The map will be regularly updated during the winter and the latest version can be downloaded from visitthames.co.uk/winterworks
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