Peter's Waterways Blog Bruce is Confused We need the Navigation Authorities to help navigators with tunnels. And not to be confused ...

“It’s One Way”. “No it isn’t”. There is only limited opportunity for conversation with a passing boat inside a canal tunnel. We were inside Bruce Tunnel on the Kennet and Avon Canal: I was steering and we were about a hundred yards into the five hundred yards of the tunnel. We passed slowly, both on the right hand side and as the tunnel is high, there was no problem with cabin sides. The width was sufficient.

Approaching Bruce Tunnel West Portal in 2019

Bruce Tunnel West Portal in 2009

Which boat was correct about the rules for the tunnel? My preparation for the trip was based firstly on having covered the route twice before, in 2006 and 2009. We had also downloaded Canal and River Trust’s current Boater’s Guide for the canal. The download screen helpfully (?) says: “Boaters' guides for navigation information and boaters’ facilities. Note: some information may not be up-to-date, so cross reference with other available guides.”.

Having downloaded my guide I found: BruceTunnel: This tunnel is able to take two-way narrowboat traffic (single file for craft with a beam greater than 7ft/2.13m). Craft should show a forward-facing white light, and boaters are advised to sound the horn and ensure the exit is clear before entering the tunnel. Pass straight through the tunnel without stopping. Keep crew and passengers inside the profile of the boat whilst in the tunnel. Remember to extinguish any naked flames-including kettles on the hob! The guide clearly supports passing an oncoming narrowboat inside the tunnel, but is silent on how to tell whether an oncoming light is attached to a boat wider than 7ft. The tunnel signs encountered in 2009 were similarly non-specific. Presumably the commonsense of navigators had been sufficient and not caused any problems.

Inside Bruce Tunnel

Bruce Tunnel new sign

On leaving the tunnel, I looked at the sign to which the boat we passed referred, and I looked again at my photograph of the sign at the other portal. Both say: Bruce Tunnel Portal: (West/East) Tunnel length: 4568m / 1503ft Method of working: One way traffic Maximum craft size: 4.12m / 13’ 6” Beam 4m / 13’ 1” Air Draft Approximate travel time through the tunnel: 6 mins and goes on to advice on the wearing of buoyancy aids, and authorising canoes to use the tunnel if they have a forward-facing white light.

The prominence of the one-way restriction as the third blob in a list is inadequate to the purpose. And the sign-writers don’t always know their one-way from their two-way as a sign at the narrow Scout Tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal demonstrates. Compared to 2009 there is a clear increase in the number of wide boats on the canal, including some wide hirecraft. There may therefore be need for a control regime to let them pass through the tunnel. It ought to be sufficient to have red and green navigation lights visible from the front, in addition to the tunnel light.

Scout Tunnel "Two way Traffic" - now replaced

Braunston Tunnel sign

There are other wide tunnels with predominantly narrowboat traffic: at Braunston and Blisworth on the Grand Union, wide boats need to book early morning passages and are not allowed for the rest of the day. A one-way system is not the only way of running the tunnel, and I am not aware of any consultation with navigators before the new signs were erected. A particular disadvantage for eastbound boats is that the proximity of Crofton Top Lock, which can easily allow a stream of westbound boats, all within the distance of one another such that each boat can enter the tunnel before the one ahead has left it. This is not theoretical speculation: the inevitable one-way working of the narrow Chirk Tunnel on the Llangollen Canal has the slower-moving westbound boats (there is a distinctive flow on this canal) creating long continuous passages: aspiring eastbound boats filling all the available space in a queue, and unable to break into the contrary flow of boats.

It is easy enough to decide to close the tunnel to two-way traffic without considering the practical consequences for navigation. Canal and River Trust ought to decide on a recommended regime for Bruce Tunnel, consult with it customers on its practical application, be consistent on what the regime is, and advertise it clearly on signage so that everybody understands.

Leaving Bruce Tunnel in 2006

Peter Scott @peterjohnscott