Printer Friendly
Email a Friend
Divers Undertake Repairs on Historic Weir on the River Avon
01 Dec 2002
Techniques more usually used on the ocean floor are currently being applied by British Waterways' contractor Seastructures Ltd to repair an historic weir on the River Avon at Keynsham near Bristol, which forms part of the Kennet and Avon Canal.
Divers from Seastructures, a specialist underwater engineering company based in Plymouth, are injecting grout into voids under the weir to stabilise the ageing structure. The £40,000 repair works started on 19 August and are expected to be complete by the end of the year.
As Zanna Stanley, British Waterways' Senior Project Engineer explained: 'The project to repair the weir at Keynsham forms part of British Waterways' annual programme of works to maintain navigation on the 87-mile long Kennet and Avon Canal.'
'Divers will inject fast setting grout into the voids and cracks that have opened up over time on the 250-year old weir.
By carrying out this repair work underwater disruption to wildlife and boat traffic is minimised, as are costs, ' Stanley explained.
Keynsham Weir was originally built to divert water to power the adjacent mill. But without structures such as Keynsham Weir, fast-flowing rivers like the River Avon would not be navigable as weirs slow the flow of water to create enough depth of static water upstream for boats to navigate.
The project forms part of a £600,000 programme of works undertaken this year by British Waterways to repair several weirs on the River Avon Between Bath and Hanham Lock, the end of the Kennet and Avon Canal.
Other weirs still to be repaired include those at Warleigh and Hanham.
Related products
For more information on products mentioned within this article visit
