Safely in the banks

With over 2,000 miles of canal bank to care for, our work is an essential part of an ongoing effort to keep canals safe, stable and ready for everyone who uses them. For when canal banks do flood, fail or collapse, they can block navigation, cut off towpaths and cause the canal to leak, or completely breach.  

As many were originally dug out using pick and shovel, back in the 18th century, it is not surprising that some 250 years later, some have begun to leak, erode, or fall away. However, it’s vital to keep them safe for the 10 million people who visit their local canal every fortnight. And the 35,000 boaters who keep our canals far busier today than they have ever been.  

That’s why, across some of the busiest parts of the Oxford Canal this summer, our teams are working to strengthen and protect canal banks, tackling a range of challenges in different locations. As principal engineer David Fern explains, it’s a £450,000 investment that will keep walkers visiting, boaters safely mooring and our canals free of leaks, floods, erosion and silt. 

"On an embankment just west of Braunston, the far side of the canal regularly floods and overtops after heavy winter rains. In several places, these flood events have eroded the canal bank, causing water to seep into the vulnerable brickwork of the aqueduct below.

"To protect this structure from further damage, our team have built a new clay wall and lining along a 150-metre stretch of the canal. This raises the ‘freeboard’ (the height of the bank above the water line) to well over a foot, even at high water helping to prevent over-topping and erosion."

These repairs might seem rudimentary, but they are robust examples of canal engineering, with ton after ton of clay being brought in by boat and packed high on the canal walls. The clay works as well today as it did for the navvies of 250 years ago, sealing the canal banks tight for many more years to come and making it easier for boats to moor and safer ground for walkers. 

It’s a similar story further along the canal near the popular village of Napton on the Hill. Here, however, David says the problem is on the towpath side of the bank.

The towpath at Napton is hugely popular, as it’s part of a walk that leads from the village, past a famous windmill, up the spectacular hill and back towards the village. Handily, there’s a popular bankside pub on the way! Thousands of people walk this route each year, stopping for a pint and bite to eat by the water. At the same time, hundreds of boats turn in and out of the nearby marina.  

Over time, this has led to the bank failing and the towpath wearing away, with tonnes of mud and silt accumulating beneath the waterline. "The towpath had become so narrow it was beginning to be quite dangerous for the walkers", says David, "and then for boaters, there’s the hidden danger of soil and silt that’s fallen into the canal."

That’s why we’re now installing new sheet piling along the canal and backfilling that with material we’ve dredged from the canal. The team then add a layer of soil to give the bank a green, soft topping - before stoning up the path to make it wide, solid and safe for everyone to walk along. 

These fresh firm banks make it safer and more comfortable for walkers, and easier for boaters to navigate without hidden hazards beneath the surface. 

Moving further on, a little beyond the village itself, the Napton Lock flight begins, and it’s here that David and the team are protecting even more banks, especially for our boating customers. At the beginning of the nine-lock flight, queues of boats can develop as they wait to head down the canal toward Oxford. So a crucial 200 metres of bank need to be strengthened to offer a safe place to moor. 

Yet David says the problems don’t end once you enter the lock flight. "Lock landings – the mooring sites just in front of a lock – are always our top priority for bank repairs," says David, "because we must keep our locks safe and easy for customers to use.  

"But the landing at Lock 14 has reached the end of its life, and we’re driving 3m long sheets of piling in here, along a 55-metre section to make it safe again. This area around Napton is simply such a honey-pot destination for boaters that the banks here see more wear and tear and need more care than other sections of the canal."

"Taken together all these various works on the Oxford Canal this summer are exceptionally large in scale and complexity – but we’ve decided to go ahead and make these fundamental repairs this summer, to keep these banks robust, resilient and strong for many more years to come."

So, the next time you walk along your towpath, or step off onto a bank, take a moment to look around. Beneath the surface, there’s a huge amount of work keeping these special canal places safe, stable and open. And our work to protect banks simply wouldn’t be possible without your support.

Meet engineer Helen

See how this essential work happens behind the scenes.