SPEEDING UP CANALS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20982, 19 September 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

SPEEDING UP CANALS.

BIG SCHEME IN ENGLAND. MORSE-DRAWN BARCES TO CO. Hie old order changeth, and even England's sleepy canals will soon become bustling routes of fast traffic. The Grand Union Canal Company has an eve on the future, and a big scheme is now in hand for making better use of nearly 300 miles of water roads which are under its control. Soon the leisurely horse-drawn barges, so much behind the times, will be superseded by fast motor-boats, each pair of them carrying about eighty tons instead of the present weight of less than sixty tons. These will be adaptable for both tho canals and the Thames, so that they can carry cargo direct to or from the ships as they arrive from the ports of the world. It will cost a million pounds to make all the sections between tho Thames, Birmingham, and the Trent suitablo for large motor-driven barges. But it will be worth while, for the company believes that inland transport, if properly developed, will be of great use to industry in the future. Since tho amalgamation, two years ago, of canals between the Midlands and London new factories and warehouses have appeared on the banks of the Thames, and in spite of trade depression at least twenty large firms between London and Cowley Lock sent more goods by water last year than in 1029. Many of tho locks are too narrow for the new boats, and over fifty of them will be rebuilt on the section between Napton and Birmingham bridges. Passing places and pumping stations will be made, and over £90,000 will be spent on dredging alone.