Boaters trapped on one mile of Bath canal after roadworks damage tunnel
Boaters fear the Kennet & Avon Canal tunnel closure could last for months
Boaters are being squeezed onto a single mile of canal in Bath after a tunnel was closed when contractors dug through its roof.
The Kennet & Avon Canal tunnel, which passes under the A36, is now closed to boats and pedestrians on safety grounds.
Some boaters fear it will stay shut for months.
Those south of the closure are trapped on the last mile of the canal before it meets the River Avon.
At the same time, many narrowboats which have been moored on the Avon all summer are trying to leave before the winter floods and fast water.
That is leading them all to squeeze into the same stretch of canal.
Boaters moving off the river
Keith, of Bath Narrowboats, said: "We have got a lot of boaters coming up off the river. I feel for them. If the weather gets bad there is nowhere for them to go."
Michael West, a former lock keeper, has been living on a boat for five years and is working on a series of paintings of waterways.
He has moored just south of Sydney Gardens.
He said: "I'm just glad to get a place."
He added: "I was down on the river but it's a bit too dangerous down there. … At this time of year all boats move to a safe space."
He went through more than 10 locks on Tuesday as he tried to get off the river, meeting many other boaters in the same situation on the way.
It was dark by the time he found a space to moor in Bath.
He said: "It is kind of chaos."
Jorge has also come off the river and was mooring his boat further down the canal, alongside fellow boater Tallulah, who had just done the same.
He said: "I reckon there's going to be a lot of this over the next few weeks so I just thought I would get in early."
His main concern is getting water.
Another boater moored nearby suggested they all connect their water pipes together.
But Jorge said it is not all bad.
He said: "It will be nice not to have to move for a bit. This is a prime location. It's a nice place to be stuck."
Tallulah said: "I'm lucky I have got a small one so I could squeeze in a gap that wasn't really big enough."
It is not her first time being stuck.
She said: "Last year someone sunk in the top lock and another lock set on fire so we were stuck down here. … There's always something broken. There's always something we hear about."
She added: "I didn't get an email this time. I heard about it through word of mouth."
Another boater, Rick, said: "We need to know exactly how long we are going to be stuck there and what services there are."
Rick predicts between 20 and 40 narrowboats will come off the river looking for winter spaces on the canal, unless some go the other way to Bristol's Floating Harbour.
Under normal conditions, he thinks there would only be space for another eight boats on the single mile of canal.
He said: "People are going to have to start doubling up."
Damage to the tunnel
Rick said that is not his main worry.
He is one of the few boaters to have been inside the tunnel and seen the damage.
The hole was large enough for him to see daylight through it.
A single lane closure is in place on the A36 as it crosses the canal, but traffic is still passing just metres from the hole.
Rick said: "I would have expected a risk-averse engineer to at least have put down some steel plates. … There is a big hole in the apex of the arch which is not good."
The hole has now been there for almost two weeks.
Contractor Volker Highways had been digging a trench into the road surface to install a shared use path for Bath and North East Somerset Council when it broke through the roof of the 200-year-old canal tunnel.
The trench now ends suddenly and is covered by plastic sheeting at the point where the road crosses the canal.
Keith, whose business is based nearby, said: "Luckily nobody was hurt."
He said: "What we are concerned about is that road is still open and there's big lorries going across it and it's got a big hole in."
He thinks the pressure on the bridge could be reduced if Sydney Road was reopened to traffic.
It is an alternative route around Sydney Gardens which was closed in 2024 to create a low-traffic neighbourhood.
Keith said: "If they opened that, they would not have a big queue of traffic miles back."
The council has not shared an estimated timeline, but Keith thinks the tunnel will be closed for months.
He said: "In the next couple of weeks it's all going to kick off because all those boats on the river are coming up and they've got nowhere to go."
Disruption to boaters' plans
The closure has already disrupted plans for some boaters.
Rick was trying to get a boat to Bradford-upon-Avon to sell it, and Michael had been aiming to get to the other side of Bath.
Neither can now do so.
Colin, who has moored near the Deep Lock, had planned to take his boat to his family in Coventry in time for Christmas.
The closure has put an end to that plan, but he is not too worried about being stuck in Bath.
He said: "I'm not on any timetable."
He has fuel and gas where he has moored, and only faces a slightly longer trek to get water.
He and his wife have been living on the canal network for the last five years.
He said: "I enjoy it. It's a good life."
Colin said: "I realised when I retired onto the canal, it's canal rules. You don't make plans, you have ideas."
What the council and Canal & River Trust have said
A spokesperson for Bath and North East Somerset Council said: "Safety is our first priority and engineers are closely monitoring the bridge. We are continuing with the eastbound one-lane Beckford Road closure, as well as the closure of the canal and adjacent towpath at the north end of Sydney Gardens. We want to thank people for their patience and of course we will give further updates when we have them."
A closure notice from the Canal & River Trust said: "Please be advised that we are awaiting an update from BANES. Therefore, for safety reasons, and until a structural engineer from Bath and North East Somerset Council can carry out a detailed assessment of the structure, the canal navigation and towpath will remain temporarily closed."