| Re: Sydney Gardens No. 1 Tunnel, Bath. Navigation and towpath closed. Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 20:43, 30th October 2026 |     |
From the BBC:
Hope for stranded canal boats with tunnel repair plan
Boaters on the last mile of the Kennet and Avon Canal have been left cut off from the rest of the canal network
A temporary repair could allow stranded canal boats to move again after a road tunnel over the waterway was damaged during roadworks.
The damage happened at the 200-year-old tunnel on the Kennet and Avon Canal in Bath, beneath the A36 Beckford Road.
Bath and North East Somerset Council is proposing a "temporary shield" to let boats pass safely while a permanent repair is designed.
The Canal and River Trust said the design was being worked on and the canal section and towpath would "remain closed until further notice".
Contractors broke through the tunnel's brick roof on 9 October while carrying out roadworks for the council.
The closure has cut off the final mile (about 1.96km) of the canal from the rest of the network, leaving boaters unable to continue their journeys.
The timing has added to the problem, with boaters who usually spend the summer on the River Avon moving onto the canal to avoid flooding. Boats are now crowding into the short stretch, with no way out except back onto the river.
The tunnel and towpath have been closed on safety grounds since the damage, while a one-lane closure remains in place on Beckford Road. The road restrictions have caused long queues and prompted safety concerns.
(BBC article continues)
Boaters on the last mile of the Kennet and Avon Canal have been left cut off from the rest of the canal network
A temporary repair could allow stranded canal boats to move again after a road tunnel over the waterway was damaged during roadworks.
The damage happened at the 200-year-old tunnel on the Kennet and Avon Canal in Bath, beneath the A36 Beckford Road.
Bath and North East Somerset Council is proposing a "temporary shield" to let boats pass safely while a permanent repair is designed.
The Canal and River Trust said the design was being worked on and the canal section and towpath would "remain closed until further notice".
Contractors broke through the tunnel's brick roof on 9 October while carrying out roadworks for the council.
The closure has cut off the final mile (about 1.96km) of the canal from the rest of the network, leaving boaters unable to continue their journeys.
The timing has added to the problem, with boaters who usually spend the summer on the River Avon moving onto the canal to avoid flooding. Boats are now crowding into the short stretch, with no way out except back onto the river.
The tunnel and towpath have been closed on safety grounds since the damage, while a one-lane closure remains in place on Beckford Road. The road restrictions have caused long queues and prompted safety concerns.
(BBC article continues)
| Re: Sydney Gardens No. 1 Tunnel, Bath. Navigation and towpath closed. Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 21:24, 28th October 2026 | |
From the BBC:
Calls to remove liveable neighbourhood road
A single lane closure is in place over the bridge, and engineers are "closely monitoring" the structure - Image © LDRS
Hundreds of people are calling for a road to be reopened to traffic after damage to a nearby tunnel caused further disruption on a major route.
More than 860 people have signed a petition demanding motorists be able to use Sydney Road in Bath, which was closed to traffic in 2024 as part of the city's liveable neighbourhoods scheme.
The petitioners say a single-lane closure on the alternative A36 Beckford Road, after contractors accidentally broke through the roof of a canal tunnel, has meant long queues.
A Bath and North East Somerset Council spokesperson said safety was its "priority" and engineers were closely monitoring the bridge, but the lane and bridge closure would continue.
Sydney Road was previously used as a shortcut from the A36 at Beckford Road and around Sydney Gardens, until bollards were placed at the end of the road.
People living on the road say it is better for cyclists and pedestrians, but Beckford Road residents say it has pushed all the traffic past them.
Petition organiser Kay Martin said stopping traffic had caused "significant disruption and frustration". She said people using the A36 into and out of the city had been further impacted by the 200-year-old tunnel roof being damaged by contractors building a shared-path and the subsequent lane closure.
Martin said she was concerned about longer journeys, increased pollution from idling vehicles and delays for emergency services. "Reopening Sydney Road is not just a matter of convenience, but a necessity," she said.
The tunnel is closed to both boats and pedestrians on safety grounds, leaving all narrowboats south of the closure trapped on the last mile of the canal - Image © LDRS
The Kennet and Avon Canal and towpath have also been closed.
Keith, of Bath Narrowboats, said boaters could face months of disruption and backed calls to reopen Sydney Road. He said it was the time of year when river boaters moved onto the canal to avoid flooding.
"In the next couple of weeks it's all going to kick off because all those boats on the river are coming up and they've got nowhere to go," he said. "If they opened that, they would not have a queue of traffic miles back." He also raised concerns about heavy lorries continuing to cross the affected structure.
A Bath and North East Somerset Council spokesperson confirmed the eastbound lane closure on Beckford Road would continue, alongside the closure of the canal and towpath at the north end of Sydney Gardens.
The BBC has contacted the council about the petition.
A single lane closure is in place over the bridge, and engineers are "closely monitoring" the structure - Image © LDRS
Hundreds of people are calling for a road to be reopened to traffic after damage to a nearby tunnel caused further disruption on a major route.
More than 860 people have signed a petition demanding motorists be able to use Sydney Road in Bath, which was closed to traffic in 2024 as part of the city's liveable neighbourhoods scheme.
The petitioners say a single-lane closure on the alternative A36 Beckford Road, after contractors accidentally broke through the roof of a canal tunnel, has meant long queues.
A Bath and North East Somerset Council spokesperson said safety was its "priority" and engineers were closely monitoring the bridge, but the lane and bridge closure would continue.
Sydney Road was previously used as a shortcut from the A36 at Beckford Road and around Sydney Gardens, until bollards were placed at the end of the road.
People living on the road say it is better for cyclists and pedestrians, but Beckford Road residents say it has pushed all the traffic past them.
Petition organiser Kay Martin said stopping traffic had caused "significant disruption and frustration". She said people using the A36 into and out of the city had been further impacted by the 200-year-old tunnel roof being damaged by contractors building a shared-path and the subsequent lane closure.
Martin said she was concerned about longer journeys, increased pollution from idling vehicles and delays for emergency services. "Reopening Sydney Road is not just a matter of convenience, but a necessity," she said.
The tunnel is closed to both boats and pedestrians on safety grounds, leaving all narrowboats south of the closure trapped on the last mile of the canal - Image © LDRS
The Kennet and Avon Canal and towpath have also been closed.
Keith, of Bath Narrowboats, said boaters could face months of disruption and backed calls to reopen Sydney Road. He said it was the time of year when river boaters moved onto the canal to avoid flooding.
"In the next couple of weeks it's all going to kick off because all those boats on the river are coming up and they've got nowhere to go," he said. "If they opened that, they would not have a queue of traffic miles back." He also raised concerns about heavy lorries continuing to cross the affected structure.
A Bath and North East Somerset Council spokesperson confirmed the eastbound lane closure on Beckford Road would continue, alongside the closure of the canal and towpath at the north end of Sydney Gardens.
The BBC has contacted the council about the petition.
| Re: Sydney Gardens No. 1 Tunnel, Bath. Navigation and towpath closed. Posted by Mark A at 12:57, 28th October 2026 | |
Bridge data: the site below is useful, as canal bridge numbers, on maps, can be elusive/absent.
Thinking back a couple of years, a phone call from people on the boat to the effect 'We've passed bridge 122 on the 15 mile pound, see you later' caused some head scratching while I found out exactly where bridge 122 might be.
The site below doesn't help with the two Sydney Gardens structures, mind. I recall checking the identification of the tunnel with the issue, and not using A.I. either. K&A bridge numbers are numbered east to west, and, these two structures are numbered west to east... apparently, Bruce Tunnel, on the summit, is referred to as number 3, so the numbering of the two in Sydney Gardens may be... questionable, but cast in stone.
https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/3bad9280-3167-4a8f-ad12-4fa93297bf51/bridges
| Re: Sydney Gardens No. 1 Tunnel, Bath. Navigation and towpath closed. Posted by Mark A at 10:34, 28th October 2026 | |
More likely I've got it wrong. It's either 1 or 2 though.
| Re: Sydney Gardens No. 1 Tunnel, Bath. Navigation and towpath closed. Posted by JohnM at 09:28, 28th October 2026 | |
Update here: https://bathnewseum.com/2026/10/27/canal-tunnel-update/
BTW it says "Officially known as the Bath Number 1 tunnel" - have they got that wrong?
| Re: Sydney Gardens No. 1 Tunnel, Bath. Navigation and towpath closed. Posted by Mark A at 17:21, 16th October 2026 | |
Images now show that it was the trench.
https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/local-news/gallery/pictures-show-hole-through-a36-11200843
Echoes of Cricklade: some time after the railway closed, unknown persons explored the minimal clearance between between the railway cutting and the canal tunnel below it. ISTR three feet was quoted.
In this case the exploration was unintentional. Given that the road was until recently a trunk route (and is still an 'A' road) I wonder if the tunnel ever received inspections as load-bearing from the point of view of road traffic.
| Re: Sydney Gardens No. 1 Tunnel, Bath. Navigation and towpath closed. Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 02:21, 15th October 2026 | |
The trench itself was shallow, though whatever was being excavated into was a bit concrete-chunky. It was difficult to make out exactly where the displaced roof blocks were in relation to the ground above. I had the impression that they weren't beneath the trench at all (which in any case hadn't reached the ground above the tunnel).
....
It made me think of Devonshire Tunnel ...
....
It made me think of Devonshire Tunnel ...
It made me think of the Battle of the Somme, frankly.
CfN.
| Re: Sydney Gardens No. 1 Tunnel, Bath. Navigation and towpath closed. Posted by Mark A at 13:06, 14th October 2026 | |
We walked under there on the Thursday as they were working above and I wondered how deep they were going!
I had a look on Monday from the East end of the tunnel but there was nothing to see.
I wonder how long it'll take to repair?
I had a look on Monday from the East end of the tunnel but there was nothing to see.
I wonder how long it'll take to repair?
The trench itself was shallow, though whatever was being excavated into was a bit concrete-chunky. It was difficult to make out exactly where the displaced roof blocks were in relation to the ground above. I had the impression that they weren't beneath the trench at all (which in any case hadn't reached the ground above the tunnel). They may have been below the road's west side pavement which has been resurfaced using tarmac, and probably using a plate compactor, the vibration from which may have exposed a couple of stone blocks where the mortar was failing.
It made me think of Devonshire Tunnel, which is lined with 'Shaped rubble' that may have gained a fair amount of additional cohesion courtesy of limescale among other things. Not, thankfully, that Devonshire is a streaming wet tunnel.
| Re: Sydney Gardens No. 1 Tunnel, Bath. Navigation and towpath closed. Posted by Mark A at 18:59, 13th October 2026 | |
Hopefully a bread and butter repair, albeit above water. But then... listed building, at least two agencies involved, negotiations to be had...
Off topic, from a quick exchange with a group of people working at Blisworth Tunnel in the late 1980s: they indicated that I think it was £27 per square metre was the going rate for brick lining repairs at that time. I have a faint recollection that didn't involve simple repointing but with brick lining, where do you stop...
| Re: Sydney Gardens No. 1 Tunnel, Bath. Navigation and towpath closed. Posted by chipbury at 17:00, 13th October 2026 | |
We walked under there on the Thursday as they were working above and I wondered how deep they were going!
I had a look on Monday from the East end of the tunnel but there was nothing to see.
I wonder how long it'll take to repair?
| Sydney Gardens No. 1 Tunnel, Bath. Navigation and towpath closed. Posted by Mark A at 13:36, 11th October 2026 | |
A member of the public noticed, and alerted the local authority to the defect in the lining that had developed as a result of work to the road above the tunnel. (Navigation and towpath were then closed as of Friday afternoon...)
https://i.postimg.cc/Vv3S749S/Sydney-Gardens-number-two-tunnel-roof-issue-1600.jpg
