THE Wey & Arun Canal Trust has started the year with the completion of desilting work on the Dunsfold section. This has resulted in a fully navigable unobstructed wide and deep channel for nearly 2km from Fast Bridge in Surrey down to Tickner’s Heath and a canalside path.
Trust chairman Sally Schupke said: “We are delighted with the work carried out by Dunsfold Park and their support to ensure the canal becomes an important feature and community asset within the Dunsfold Park Masterplan.” The final stage was taken over by Dunsfold Airport Ltd, which is behind the transformation of Dunsfold Aerodrome (now known as Dunsfold Park) into a new village where 1800 homes and further commercial zones are planned.
Jim McAllister, chief executive of the Rutland Group which manages Dunsfold Park, said: “We’re delighted that the desilting and reprofiling of the banks along the canal has made the waterways more open and accessible. Enhancing and building on the natural environment at Dunsfold Park is a key component of our plans for the new village and the canal is an important part of that.”
The principal contractor for the desilting was civil engineering company Sir Robert McAlpine which called on Land & Water Group Ltd, which spent much of the year on Dunsfold Airport Ltd’s behalf on this major project, with Environment Agency oversight.
Water cleaning
All the fish were removed and rehomed. Many of them were large carp, with which the canal had been stocked by the British Aerospace angling club. All the canal water in the section was pumped into temporary lagoons built on site. The water was then cleaned by a substantial process plant that uses the power of rising air bubbles to remove harmful contaminants and then returned to the canal.
A modern amphibious tracked excavator and a more traditional dragline and bucket were used to take 13,000m3 of silt out of the canal which will be reused as far as possible for landscaping on the development. During the dredging, the contractors encountered unexploded ordnance from the wartime airfield which required professional disposal. At the moment the canal is within the secure perimeter of Dunsfold Park and will not be open to the public until the housing development is under way. However, Dunsfold Park will allow the trust to run special events on this stretch of canal and organise guided walks. It has a slipway within Dunsfold Park to launch small boats.
Tickner’s Heath crossing
At the southern end of this section is Tickner’s Heath, where the route of the canal is blocked by the causeway which carries Dunsfold Road. A new road bridge will be built and a new canal cut excavated to rejoin the original canal to the west of the old crossing. A new footbridge was built in 2022 but then work had to be put on hold awaiting highway approvals for a temporary road and for a water main to be rerouted. The trust hopes to restart this project later this year.
