Peter's Waterways Blog How To Sign a Commercial Navigation Closure This was first published in IWA West Riding's Milepost in December 2015, as a challenge to contractors to understand the dangers to navigators.

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I’ve agreed with CRT that the contractors for the Leeds Flood Alleviation scheme seem to need some help and advice on how to safely close our (Commercial) Navigation. This is the afternoon of Wednesday 25th November 2015: looking from the Leeds/Clarence/New/Tattie Dock towards Crown Point Bridge Leeds. Work on the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme has just begun here with the construction of a temporary scaffolding footbridge across the lock cut.

They had the fourth of six winter closures around Crown Point Bridge Leeds on the Aire and Calder Main Line, in order to build a scaffolding bridge across to the lock island. The pedestrian towpath access has already been closed for a full year, with pedestrians diverted to the main road crossing. The footway has a year-long closure telling pedestrians to brave the road crossing instead of the underpass or towing path under Crown Point bridge.

For the canal, the contractors just slung a bit of blue string, with a few A4 'Closed' notices hanging off it, across the lockcut entrance above Leeds Lock. They didn't consider the decapitation of a boat steerer or their boat being swept on to the weir or its protective boom. There are some indistinguishable blobs in the waterway at the entrance to the lock cut. ...

There were no warnings of any of this upstream at River Lock, and a downstream narrowboat from there had some discomforting bother with it all. It was fortunate that the river levels were lower than they had been earlier in the week The blobs seem to be in two lines ...

...and turn out to be small white signs strung out on blue string across the cut at steerer-decapitating-height, saying " ! WARNING ! WATERWAY AHEAD CLOSED "

There were no warnings of any of this upstream at River Lock, and a downstream narrowboat from there had some discomforting bother with it all. It was fortunate that the river levels were lower than they had been earlier in the week. Making C&RT aware of this incident was particularly important because there were two laterwinter stoppages planned of three then two weeks. The organisation of the stoppages were because the Flood Alleviation Scheme was being organised by Leeds City Council, with significant funding from the Environment Agency's flood defence budget. It was Leeds' subcontractors who were controlling the building of the weir, of which these were preparatory works. Canal and River Trust therefore had only peripheral involvement, and by my perception, minimal influence.

Scaffolding bridge across the lock cut seems to be almost completed. The 'closure' if that is what it is intended to be, is no longer necessary: there might be some hazard to boats passing underneath from falling equipment, but in November there are many possible techniques short of a closure to allow passage of the small number of boats likely to be navigating.

View across the temporary scaffolding bridge.

Temporary scaffolding bridge also showing the blue string and 'closure notice' across the lock cut.

View from Crown Point Bridge showing the temporary scaffolding bridge and the 'closure notice' on the blue string

The positioning of the temporary scaffolding bridge has displaced the permanent weir-warning notice which is normally clearly visible to downstream navigators.

RiverWeir from Crown Point Bridge. The water flow this afternoon is low but not insignificant, and in normal times (that is without the decapitating string) would be safe for navigation. As a knowledgeable passer-by seeing a dangerous practice on a building site, it is probably a public duty to demand an interview with the SiteEngineer / ResidentEngineer to have the danger removed. It seemed useful to go upstream to find the warning signs for downstream craft that would be best attached to the next lock, that is River Lock at the junction with the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

There were no warning signs of the 'closure' above Leeds Lock anywhere around River Lock. And there was a boat already descending, on its way towards the steerer-decapitating string. By good fortune this boat has a steerer-protecting wheelhouse. The steerer was operating the paddles and I engaged him in conversation. If our roles had been reversed, I too would have adopted his scepticism of a random-passer-by-warning "there's a problem ahead". But at least they had a warning, even if they didn't believe it.

I returned to Crown Point Bridge to watch what happened. On the way there was some scaffolding moving, apparently from the Railway Station Southern extension works, guarded by its RIB safety boat. Alternatively it could be scaffolding and RIB associated with the Crown Point Bridge works.

Here the narrowboat is on its journey towards the string, here viewed through the ornamental parapet of Crown Point Bridge.

The front of the narrowboat approaches the offending string.

... and continues closer ...

... and heads for the wall between the weirstream and the lock cut.

... and almost in contact with the wall between the weirstream and the lock cut.

The narrowboat is now in reverse, and the RIB seen earlier seems to be attempting to warn the steerer of the problem ahead.

Having reversed, the stern of the boat is now being drawn into the weir stream.

This is the point of greatest hazard to the narrowboat, where there is insufficient boat on the lockcut side of the wall-as-pivot, and it can still be drawn into the weirstream.

By passing partially under the blue string, the steerer has gained the safety of the wall at the bow, and is no longer being drawn into the weir.

The steerer is now powering round on the bow pivot to regain a position to enter the lock cut. There is no interest in the situation from the workers on the scaffolding bridge, who seem entirely oblivious of the danger they have created.

The narrowboat is still not making much progress in pivoting itseft into the lock cut.

... and eventually there is progress under the blue string.

Here the narrowboat steerer needs to take to his gunwales to raise the string above his wheelhouse. There is still no recognition / understanding / assistance from the workers on the site.

The narrowboat steerer raised the string above his wheelhouse, which has now passed under the first string. By now the workers on the site have noticed the narrowboat ...

... as it makes its way towards Leeds Lock.

... and waits for the blue string to be raised by the site workers. Clearly they do not need navigators to stop for the, so they don't need the string or the dangers it creates.

Narrowboat passes under the string held up by the site workers.

The site worker on the right of the image is obscured by a lamp standard, rather than having a strange taste in hardhats.

Peter Scott @peterjohnscott