ECCOnoob Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 (edited) One barge on the South Yorks canals can carry up to 600 tons , How many lorry's would that keep of the roads .how much pollution of the atmosphere would it save by eliminating all those vehicles from the roads. Its a no brainer . Well no brainer would certainly be applicable. As in, you really have not thought it through. The world has dramatically changed. The speed at which goods and supplies must reach their destination has massively increased. The locations of many of the businesses requiring such goods has moved miles away from many of the traditional canal and riverside locations. The maximum speed of a canal boat is 4mph. Add in locks and other delays and it would take an age to move goods from one location to another. A truck is limited to 56mph on a motorway with normal speed limits on other roads. A shipment from London to Sheffield (a distance of just 183 miles) would take nearly 2 days by canal boat whereas a truck could cover this in around 4.5 hours. London to Glasgow would take over 4 days. That's three days more than it would take a truck. Canals have served their time for the commercial sense. They are now things for leisure and holidays. The railways started the death sentence and the nails were hammered down even more when the road network expanded and motorways were built. Whilst barges may hold more capacity, the speed and which they could move goods and the fact that goods would need to still be transported from canal base to warehouse would make it impractical for the modern consumerist world. Edited December 27, 2015 by ECCOnoob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little malc Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 canals are a lovely feature for a nice peaceful meander, but would be far too slow for commercial traffic these days. As for overspills for flood water...have you seen the power and speed which such water flows at? It would destroy every canal boat if a trice if it hit a canal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxy lady Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 So, how are we to improve rail track capacity, without building more rail track? Longer station platforms and an extra couple of carriages on existing trains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamston Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 canals are a lovely feature for a nice peaceful meander, but would be far too slow for commercial traffic these days. As for overspills for flood water...have you seen the power and speed which such water flows at? It would destroy every canal boat if a trice if it hit a canal. The boats using these new proposed canals can be moored in marinas at high risk times which could easily be protected from fast flowing water by either traditional methods or modern technology . The idea is to direct the flow of water to areas where it will not cause damage to property and infastructure . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinfoilhat Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 Well no brainer would certainly be applicable. As in, you really have not thought it through. The world has dramatically changed. The speed at which goods and supplies must reach their destination has massively increased. The locations of many of the businesses requiring such goods has moved miles away from many of the traditional canal and riverside locations. The maximum speed of a canal boat is 4mph. Add in locks and other delays and it would take an age to move goods from one location to another. A truck is limited to 56mph on a motorway with normal speed limits on other roads. A shipment from London to Sheffield (a distance of just 183 miles) would take nearly 2 days by canal boat whereas a truck could cover this in around 4.5 hours. London to Glasgow would take over 4 days. That's three days more than it would take a truck. Canals have served their time for the commercial sense. They are now things for leisure and holidays. The railways started the death sentence and the nails were hammered down even more when the road network expanded and motorways were built. Whilst barges may hold more capacity, the speed and which they could move goods and the fact that goods would need to still be transported from canal base to warehouse would make it impractical for the modern consumerist world. Mostly agree but the waterways around London alone carried over 9m tonnes of freight in 2011. https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/freight/moving-freight-efficiently/alternative-modes We do have the opportunity to use our waterways more to carry non-urgent stuff and we should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 One barge on the South Yorks canals can carry up to 600 tons , How many lorry's would that keep of the roads .how much pollution of the atmosphere would it save by eliminating all those vehicles from the roads. Its a no brainer . How much does a train transport? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxy lady Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 How much does a train transport? Nothing if there is no capacity left in the rail system.d Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 Double decker trains? Impossible with the current track and infrastructure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lottiecass Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 Mostly agree but the waterways around London alone carried over 9m tonnes of freight in 2011. https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/freight/moving-freight-efficiently/alternative-modes We do have the opportunity to use our waterways more to carry non-urgent stuff and we should. Its probably quicker by barge than driving through central London.It would be nice to have more waterways though,more fishing.I wonder how much a mile it would cost to build a canal? impractical today though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxy lady Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 Its probably quicker by barge than driving through central London.It would be nice to have more waterways though,more fishing.I wonder how much a mile it would cost to build a canal? impractical today though. The main amenity value to the country would be to shift excess water from areas where flooding is becoming an increasing problem. But the secondary benefit would be as a liesure facility and route for commerce. No one cares if it takes 3 days for a barge load of coal to reach a power station if another one is 10 minutes behind it. No one cares because it takes the load off the roads and off the railways which cannot cope with current levels of traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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