Bude canal dredging and embankment repair projects drawing to a close

Two significant projects on the iconic Bude canal are drawing to a close in time for the summer holidays.

After some significant challenges in delivering a complicated and extensive dredging project and embankment repairs alongside the Crescent Carpark, Cornwall Council and CORMAC are delighted to be in the final stages of demobilising from site, meaning that the community and visitors will be able to enjoy the enhanced public space without diversions around site works for the first time in months and that the capacity of the carpark will be significantly reinstated.

Overall, despite programme delays resulting from mechanical glitches and extremely wet weather, the dredging project has delivered against dredging of c.6,240 cubic meters of silt from the canal from the Harbour to Whalesborough Weir.

Funded with support from the South West Regional Flood and Coastal Committee Levy and the Shared Prosperity Fund, the dredging will deliver benefits to the conveyance of flood waters, sustainability of the canal during drought conditions and to the habits and species supported by the canal, as well as helping safeguard the value of the historic waterway for the community and visitor economy of Bude and North Cornwall.

Equally, the fully Cornwall Council funded embankment repairs that have replaced an unconsolidated bank with steel sheet piling represent an investment in the canal’s future, helping to reduce the risk of further deterioration in the face of more extreme weather patterns and potential changing water levels.

The expectation is that all diversions alongside the canal will be removed by the end of July, along with reinstatement of full capacity in the Crescent Carpark.

Cornwall Council and CORMAC would like to thank everyone in the community for bearing with the disruption whilst these major projects were completed and invites everyone to make the most the enhanced facility at the Canal. You can participate in many water activities, enjoy food and shopping at the harbour and even get involved in helping to protect and conserve this special place through volunteering, Find out more at the Tourist information Centre, or by contacting countrysideservice@cormacltd.co.uk