Restoration Handbooks

Introduction

The purpose of the Practical Restoration Handbook (PRH) is very simple. It is to stop everybody having to re-invent the wheel(barrow).

For 30 years Waterway Recovery Group (WRG) has existed to co-ordinate the efforts of volunteers in inland waterway restoration. WRG has always produced factsheets on the practical aspects of waterway restoration and similarly the IWA's Restoration Committee (ResCom) produced Information Notes on the more technical aspects of waterway restoration. Production of these Fact Sheets and Notes proceeded slowly and was piecemeal because of the need to depend on the goodwill of the volunteers and availability of expert members to prepare them.

In order to put this work on an organised basis the IWA decided to submit an application for a grant from the Department of Environment, Transport and Regions. The plan was to commission authors and editorial assistance, using IWA's own resources for the overall management and administrative support. The aim would be to produce two handbooks on waterway restoration within a period of about three years.

The IWA was successful in obtaining a grant from DETR and also in persuading some 29 waterway groups, see Annex 1, to participate in the project and to subscribe funds for the work. The two handbooks are the Technical Restoration Handbook (produced by ResCom) and this Practical Restoration Handbook (produced by WRG). IWA is most grateful to all those organisations which have provided funds and to the authors and reviewers who have provided the content of the handbooks.

It is hoped both handbooks will distil the accumulated wisdom of years and further enhance the efforts and reputation of volunteers working on inland waterways. Hopefully the handbooks will give an insight into legal requirements, best practice, good sense and helpful hints and tips - in that order. Wherever possible the texts have deliberately been kept from being over-prescriptive to allow the creative thinking and individual solutions that have been the trademark of canal restoration so far.

WRG was very careful in its selection of both subject and author to give the reader the most balanced view of the subjects it felt were most often encountered. Each of these chapters of the PRH has come through an extensive review period by peers, subscribing canal societies, the DETR (often via outside bodies) with a handbook manager maintaining overall consistency between chapters. However it is important to realise that each chapter is the work of the author.

There will always be continually changing legislation which means that often rather than dealing with a subject in depth, the text will give "golden rules" and a reference to where to find the most up to date version of the legislation.

We make no apology for the fact that so much of the text concerns Health and Safety. WRG has always paid careful attention to Health and Safety and this has resulted in an excellent safety record. Waterway restoration sits across two industries – agricultural and construction - the two worst offenders in the HSE terms and yet WRG's safety record is very good. The WRG Board feels that it is the continuing policy to make Health and Safety the priority that has lead to this good record.

We also make no apology for the fact that some points are made humorously. Canal Restoration was always meant to be fun and that is undoubtedly the reason that many of us become so involved. It also helps with the readability of the text.

Disclaimers

To the extent permitted by law, neither Waterway Recovery Group nor the Inland Waterways Association is liable for any loss, injury, damage, claim, or expenses resulting from any use of such information. Every care has been taken in the compilation and checking of the information contained in this handbook. However, the IWA and WRG cannot accept any liability for the accuracy of the statements in the Handbook or omissions there from and readers are recommended to seek professional advice on specific proposals or problems.

The information provided by this Handbook is not guaranteed to be error free, if you feel that there are any errors or omissions then please send details using the form in Annex 2 clearly marked to: PRH Amendments, Inland Waterways Association, Island House, Moor Road, Chesham, HP5 1WA.

Throughout this Handbook the male gender has been used. Anyone who has experience of WRG will know that this is for example purposes only and the points apply equally to male and female.

As this handbook went to press two documents were published that are especially relevant to the handbook. It is intended to review these works and include them in future revisions of the PRH.

The first is published by HSE books and is called "Charity and Voluntary Workers: a Guide to Health and Safety at Work", HSG192, ISBN 0 7176 2424 2. This is a joint document between the HSE and the Charities Safety Group. The CSG represents around 150 charities and groups. The guidance is primarily focused on safety in charity shops and other non construction scenarios however many of the guidelines can be applied to canal restoration and it does cover construction sites and conservation work. An associated training video has been produced. Price £12 for the booklet and £25 for the video.

The second is a package produced by The Environment Agency and is called "Bank Protection", it offers guidance and includes a CD-ROM. Price £95.

Annex 1 – waterway groups contributing to the restoration handbooks project

Ashby Canal Association, Barnsley Canal Group, Birmingham Canal Navigations Society, Caldon Canal Society, Chesterfield Canal Trust, Chichester Canal Society, Cotswold Canals Trust, Droitwich Canals Trust, East Anglian Waterways Association, Foxton Inclined Plane Trust, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust, Inland Waterways Protection Society, Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, Lapal Canal Trust, Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust, Louth Navigation Trust, Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal Society, Pocklington Canal Society, Ribble Link Trust, Sankey Canal Restoration Society, Severn Navigation Restoration Society, Shropshire Union Canal Society, Sleaford Navigation Trust, River Stour Trust, Surrey and Hants Canal Society, Swansea Canal Society, Wey and Arun Canal Trust, Wendover Arm Trust, Wilts and Berks Canal Amenity Group

How to obtain hard-copies of restoration handbooks

To order hard copies of the handbooks, please use the order form. The form gives full details of pricing & availability. This is available in:

Word Format or in PDF Format

Practical Restoration Handbook - online

The Practical Restoration Handbook is available online. You can download the individual chapters in PDF format, as listed in the table below [revised PDF documents, January 2003 - reduced size and improved layout]. Or you can download a PDF of the whole document (4499 kb, 458 pages).

Technical Restoration Handbook - online

Please see information on the IWA website.