SEVERN UNIT CLEAR BRIDGE FOR NAVIGATION

Following the flooding of the River Avon after Storm Claudia in November, Severn Unit was called out by Avon Navigation Trust to clear debris and masses of floating pennywort from the arches of King John’s Bridge in Tewkesbury which had been brought down by the floodwater.   Head of Unit Nic Price said “A number of  visiting narrowboats were held up at Stratford at the far end of the navigation and urgently needed to get through Tewkesbury to reach the River Severn so four of us had to use our Rigiflex workboat Severn 1 to try and dislodge the blockage at the bridge.  Floating pennywort is a non native aquatic species which grows rapidly into dense floating mats some of which had come loose in the flood from further upriver and this had all got caught around a large tree which had floated across the bridge thus forming an impenetrable mass.  After several hours the team finally managed to dislodge it all and open the bridge again to navigation.”

Pictured:  Severn Unit Members Head of Unit Nic Price, Tim Huckvale. David Wilson and Chris Adcock hard at work in Severn 1 clearing masses of floating pennywort and other debris from King John’s Bridge