Birmingham Canal Navigations
Canal Works To Help Prepare For The Commonwealth Games
Delivering the Dovetail Treatment to 100 Miles of the Birmingham Canal Navigation
Over the course of July and August, Dovetail Group. were tasked to deliver a variety of works to ensure the Birmingham Canal Navigations were maintained to the highest standards for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022. Dovetail Group delivered these works on behalf of our fantastic client; The Canal And River Trust.
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Useful links regarding the Case Study:
The Services Involved
With the services required, Dovetail Group organised 3 programmes of work to commence on the 28th of June. These 3 programmes consisted of Aquatic Weed Clearance, Litter Picking and Graffiti Removal.
We operated with a range of teams all running their individual programmes simultaneously.
Using our range of in house Truxor’s and Narrowboats, our specialist operatives have been able to deliver a fantastic job removing all aquatic weed to ensure the canals are in pristine condition ready for the Commonwealth games to commence on the 28th of July.
In addition to this, we had a team of Jet Washing specialists working from bridge to bridge along the Birmingham Canal Navigation, removing Graffiti & Vandalism using Bio-Degradable and Non-Pollutive Graffiti Solvents.
Operative & Public Safety Measures Were Paramount
Operating along the Birmingham Canals, safety measures were vital as we were conducting our programmes so close to water, this put not only our operatives at risk but also Canal users. Dovetail Group teams wore life jackets while operating the canals, and the graffiti removal team used safety cones & signs to help communicate to Canal users that they could not pass the respective area. These cones were also positioned beyond the bridges to ensure the public were clear of any spray from the graffiti removal solvent.
In addition to this, The UK faced some of its most extreme temperatures to date during the course of these programmes. With the weather nearly reaching heights of 40 degrees celsius, our operatives faced serious health risks. To adjust for this, we revised our working times for the teams so they were working earlier on in the day during the cooler temperatures. In addition to this, the weather also caused Dovetail Group to roll out company wide toolbox talks highlighting the imminent dangers to ensure all measures were taken to reinforce safety.
When conditions worsened, for example, some days the Narrowboats were too hot to touch, the works would be postponed. This would affect our programme schedule however this is an incredibly small cost to pay for the guarantee of our staff safety.
The Work In Numbers
Graffiti Removal:
- 4 week programme
- ActiSolv Bio-degradable Non-Polluting Graffiti Removal
- Torik Steam Cleaning Systems
- ATV & 1000ltr Bowser for access
- Team of 5 pressure washing operatives
Wolverhampton Canal
- 21 structures
- 581 Square Meters
Coventry Canal
- 13 structures
- 595 Square Meters
Birmingham Main Line
- 9 structures
- 526 Square Meters
Galton Smethwick Bridge
- 2 structures
- 76 Square Meters
Aquatic Weed Removal
- Birmingham Canal Navigations Network is over 100 miles long
- 10 tonnes of weed removed on average each week
- 12 yard skip of litter and fly tip each week
- 3 boats working simultaneously
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