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Troubled waters E44,000 awarc
THE RECENT opening of the revived South Yorkshire canal system has highlighted the potential of water transport to haul freight. The trend, according to the British Waterways Board, is an upward one, reports TIM COBB.
BWB freight services manager, John Collins, says there is room for both road and canal transport to survive together. "We are not at loggerheads with road transport. When it might appear this way is when we are making a case for our part in the infra-structure of the transport industry."
The country would benefit from a better distribution of goods between the different modes of transport, he said. Almost 45 per cent of overseas trade is with mainland Europe and it is a growing market, now that more goods can travel direct from Europe to many industrial areas of the UK thanks to the Board's canal widening and straightening programme.
Lorries can also play a larger part.
"At some point the traffic will have to move by road for the continuation of its journey," he said. At Rotherham, where the canal has been widened to accept 700 tonnes vessels (CM June 18), a depot has been built to allow goods to move from canal to road with great speed.
The Board handles 7m tonnes of freight each year. Almost 90 per cent of it has to travel by road at some point for collection or delivery purposes, he said. The Board has "hundreds" of vehicle sub-contractors to whom it supplies a steady line of traffic. In fact it used to run its own fleet until it became unprofitable.
Finance for the Board's activities comes mainly from the Government, although some of its divisions, notably the freight divisions, return a profit each year. The Governmet grant for the fiscal year 1982/83 was £37.7m, a E7m increase on the previous year.
Until now vessels have been confined to high-bulk/low price goods such as coal, grain, sand and cement. But now the BWB is experimenting with the use of containers. Its engineers' department is carrying out tests on the Leeds to Hull canal to see if it could accommodate container traffic.
"Container goods are not always time-sensitive. it is just an easier way of packing freight," Mr Collins said. When the economy and transport rates eventually recover, BWB believes it will be in a strong position. Its rates have been less badly affected than road transport, and Mr Collins predicted that rocketing haulage rates will drive busi
The environmental benefit to be gained from using 700 tonnes vessels is clearly visible. It can carry up to 35 20 tonnes loads.
ness on to the canals.
Large vessels are now able to penetrate further inland than ever before. The Aire and Calder Navigation linking Leeds and the West Riding areas along the Humber to Hull have been raised in carrying capacity to 700 tonnes, and the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal can accommodate vessels up to 1,000 tonnes deadweight.
The Board can now entice more customers to the waterways with the help of Section 36 grants from the Department of Transport. These operate on the same basis as the Section 8 railway facilities grants. Capital grants are available where freight would otherwise have gone by road and where an improvement of the environment for the community would result from sending it by water and so avoiding road traffic.