Bridge is just the start of canal project (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Bridge is just the start of canal project

A MAJOR step towards the restoration of the Cotswold canals is due to take place next month with the building of a new bridge.

The new concrete and steel bridge, which will cost £447,000, will carry the busy B4696 Western Spine Road over the Thames and Severn Canal at the gateway to the Cotswold Water Park.

And it will enable cyclists and walkers to cross safely beneath the busy road which leads from the A419.

The design of the bridge will not only incorporate iron fencing in the shape of bulrushes but also the opportunity for artwork and poems to be etched into some of its surfaces.

Animal tunnels will be similarly included into the design, allowing otters and other dry mammals to also cross the busy road safely.

The restoration of the Cotswold Canals will once again link England's two great rivers, the Thames and the Severn.

The Thames and Severn Canal and Stroudwater Navigation together form the Cotswold Canals, which the Cotswold Canal Partnership - under the project management of British Waterways - is working to restore.

British Waterways Regeneration programme manager Andrew Stumpf said: "The Western Spine Road has formed one of a series of major barriers across the path of the Cotswold Canals.

"We are delighted that the funding is now in place for us to begin the construction of this important piece of the restoration jigsaw."

Chairman of the Cotswold Canals Partnership and chief executive of The Waterways Trust Roger Hanbury said: "All across the country we are witnessing a waterways renaissance and as part of this the Cotswold canals will deliver major social, economic and environmental benefits to the urban and rural communities along its length."

Part of the funding for the project has come from the Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF), which arises from the Aggregates Levy requiring aggregates extraction companies to pay £1.06 per extracted tonne of certain aggregates.

The Countryside Agency is distributing the fund to provide benefits for countryside and communities affected by quarrying.

Chairman of the Cotswold Water Park Society Roger Sleeman said: "The bridge will create a link from our new visitor centre and park and cycle facility to the newly built cycle track along the Spine Road and the canal towpath."

The new visitor centre, which is due to be built along side the canal, will include a cafe, park interpretation, various displays and information on the canal restoration.

Mr Sleeman added: "The Society is a fully committed partner in the canal restoration and sees the completed project as complementary to the aims of Britain's largest Water Park."

In a recent report British Waterways and The Waterways Trust published a feasibility report indicating that restoration will bring at least 1.8 million new visitors to the area each year, as well as generating £8.5 million in visitor spending.