[CUCBC Captains] Railway Bridge Navigation Restriction - October

[Conor Burgess]

Dear all,

Apologies for the delay on this update - the contractors have been in discussions with the Conservators, and we’ve only just heard the final plans this evening. A compromise has been agreed which will see the full river closures continue from 09:00 - 18:00 on weekdays until the 22nd October (note the hour later start time to allow for morning outings). However, the pontoon will be moved to the P&E carpark overnight and at weekends, such that there will be minimal obstruction to river traffic during peak rowing times (mornings for colleges, and early mornings / evenings for CRA clubs).

This should mean that we do not need to impose extra restrictions on college rowing, but we’ll keep an eye on how this situation is working. In particular, novice crews may struggle to spin at the P&E with less room, so you may want to direct them to Jesus lock until they can make it to the bottom of the long reach.

Please note that the towpath will remain open throughout, so if you wish to have outings during the full river closures you can do, but you’ll have to carry your boat around the river closure.

Best wishes,
Conor
On 29 Sep 2019, 15:48 +0100, Conor Burgess <conor at cucbc.org>, wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> Captains: Please ensure this message reaches everyone in your club who is training on the Cam in the next two weeks.
>
> Unfortunately the contractor's schedule for the works under the Railway Bridge has slipped again (in fairness, mainly due to delays which are out of their hands). Anyone who's been on the river this week will have experienced the 50% navigation restriction which has been in place so far (and which continues today).
>
> However, starting tomorrow, Monday 30th September, full river closures will be in place from 08:00 to 18:00 every day until (and including) Friday 4th October. During the full closures, there will be bankmen on the towpath to warn anyone approaching the obstruction. Outside those hours (i.e. between 18:00 and 08:00), the river will be restricted to 50% of its width. There was some miscommunication around the provision of bankmen at night in the original communications, but the contractors have now confirmed that they will also be present between the hours of 06:00 - 08:00 and 18:00 - 21:00 to assist with traffic passing through the obstruction.
>
> If you wish to row outside the hours of 08:00 - 18:00, crews heading downstream in particular will have very little view of what is coming upstream until the last second, so please proceed slowly and cautiously at all times, and utilise the better viewpoint of the bankmen and your bank parties to get through safely. The towpath will remain open throughout these works, so any colleges with training camps this week should be able to land upstream of the booms across the river and walk their boat around the obstruction. Please be prepared for the challenge of returning the boat to the water from the high banks on the long reach though.
>
> At the end of the works on Friday 4th October, the pontoon will be moved to be moored at the Pike & Eel carpark, where it will remain until Monday 7th October. I've been told that we can expect to learn more tomorrow (Monday 30th Sept) about what will be happening during the W/C 7th October, so expect more news from me in the next few days. For now, if you avoid planning senior outings for the 7th and 8th October, you might be able to avoid some disappointment.
>
> Best wishes,
> Conor
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