[CUCBC Contacts] Railway Bridge Navigation Restriction - October

[Conor Burgess]

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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