River Canal Rescue have raised a capsized narrowboat at Barrow, on the River Soar, on the 25th March. Torrential rain and surging water had caused the boat to break its moorings, sending it down river to bridge 30 where it became wedged.
The vessel was left in a precarious position, with the bow in the air and stern in the water, see-sawing on the barrier. A refloat could not be undertaken until flood waters receded, however as levels quickly went down, the barriers gave way, resulting in the vessel capsizing and becoming trapped between the bridge pillars and the barrier pole.
RCR managing director Stephanie Horton explains: “The best way to undertake this recovery without the vessel overturning and sinking in the river was to use divers, airbags and plant machinery. We’ll inflate the airbags, right the boat and then pull it forward away from the bridge with airbags on it.”
Given the extreme weight of the boat, RCR used four winches with a total of 20-ton capacity to pull it away from the bridge. Stephanie continues: “This ‘pulling power’ will be attached to plant machinery and we’re removing a fence in the field opposite to get access to the location without causing too much damage to the meadow.”
The boat was then pumped out, made secure and towed to a safe location – Pillings Lock. From there the boat will be lifted onto a transporter and taken to a local yard for storage and assessment.
The multi-agency rescue involved River Canal Rescue, Essex Boatyard and Crouch Recovery.
Images courtesy Mike Brown
