Surrey based specialist contractors Land & Water Services Ltd (LAWS) delivered a 'turn key' solution by designing and building both the vessels and the infrastructure as well as operating the new boats for the duration of the seven year contract. Land & Water also currently provides a national dredging service for British Waterways and the two co-fund research projects together through a partnership contract.

The project commenced in 1999 when the two aggregates companies agreed to transport sand and gravel from Denham to West Drayton. Part of the planning approval included an option to transport the material by canal.

British Waterways, which was a statutory consultee to the planning process, approached Land & Water to develop a canal transport solution for the proposed works.

At the same time, Hanson and British Waterways approached the Department for Transport for funding under the Freight Facilities Grant (FFG), a European Union subsidised grant which aims to encourage non-road transport solutions for environmental and economic benefit. Since May 1997, FFGs totalling £35.9m have been awarded to 44 companies. This represents a transfer of the equivalent of 2,027,000 lorry journeys onto waterways. British Waterways and the Government believe as much as 3.5% of all road freight currently being carried could be transferred to waterways.

In November 2001, Land & Water proposed the turn key solution which was fine tuned until contracts were signed with both British Waterways and Hanson Aggregates in December 2002. Land and Water's research into the history of the Grand Union Canal established that the relevant locks had been modified in the 1960s to accommodate larger vessels than publicised.

A survey of every bridge, lock, pinch point and sharp corner on the proposed route enabled Land & Water to maximise vessel size, upping the initially proposed load capacity of 70 tonnes to 100 tonnes.

The 23m long vessels carry a 4.2m beam and a fully loaded draught of 1.37m. Land & Water's design removes the conventional 'skeleton' of the vessel, replacing it with a reinforced single skin hold floor which saves weight and cost while maximising carrying capacity. Repeated design checks and modelling resulted in a two stage curved bow which minimises 'bow wave' when cruising on the well inhabited Grand Union Canal. The need to mitigate labour costs produced a design which can be safely operated single-handed.

The vessels are each powered by a 130hp Ford marine engine which also feeds a 25hp, hydraulically driven bow thruster.

Steerage and propulsion is via a Schottel unit shrouded with a Kort nozzle, a system which allows the vessels to manoeuvre sideways and backwards with full control. The entire underside of the stern incorporates a stepped void designed to deliver maximum water flow to the Schottel unit and mitigate stern turbidity.

The vessels are fitted with a range of innovative safety features, carry Class 4 Work Boat Certificates, and conform wholly to the prescriptions of the British Waterways and Environment Agency Boat Safety Scheme.

MJ Information No: 18501