Cold steel in a heated world

The canals and barging should be a hot topic for all of us. They're now telling us that the world is warming up. The motorways and roads are jammed with trucks and cars driving in all directions, burning our precious fossil fuels at an alarming rate.

So why do they not take a closer look at the old fashioned canals and rivers as a method of reducing heat and C02 emissions?

There are already thousands of miles of waterways which were constructed more than 100 years ago, but they are in a poor state.
A typical freycinet barge which can carry 250 tons of cargo and is the equivalent of 10 trucks. This also means 1 diesel engine instead of 10, that's much less pollution. Plus you can use a 200 HP engine, whereas most of the modern day trucks are 350 and more, that's a lot less oil being burnt for the same job. The life expectance of a cargo barge is easily more than 50 years with three motors being used, whilst the average truck last 5 years.

You can also consider the difference in material which is necessary for the construction and maintenance, between canals and motorways. An efficient canal can be built out of stone and earth, you use vegetation to preserve the solidity of the banks. Try and do that with a freeway.

The canals provide an important reserve of water and rapidly create a natural biological reserve. People can use the tow paths for pleasure such as walking and cycling. I'd like to see you take a family stroll along the M6!

Most canals and rivers I know are falling into oblivion, state finance is almost zero and the people employed are on the bottom end of the civil service (no offence). Simply up-keep is a very low priority and in many cases non-existent, as the dykes and feeding streams to and canals are abandoned and over-grown. The locks and sluice gates leak and the loss of water is very important. The reservoirs are silted up and unable to provide the quantities of water for which they were originally designed. I even know of a reservoir from which the water cannot be used for the canal, but is reserved for a nearby camping site and the canal officials receive a yearly bribe!

Barges instead of trucks?
What about the loss of jobs you shout aloud ! Well just think a bit more, I reply. Imagine if the canals where operating 24/7 this would create jobs. If we replanted the trees along the canals and rivers, this provides wood to harvest. The reservoirs provide natural sources of food. I can give many more example of job creation.

What about the difference in transport time you shout aloud! It takes weeks to deliver the goods! I say it's easy to anticipate ordering material such as sand, stone, wood and steel a few weeks in advance. Especially with all the technology that we have today.

So who is against the development of barges and canals? It's very easy to cite the huge corporate lobbies defending the interests of companies such as Ford… There would many less engines being sold… . The amount of road accidents which be greatly reduced as cars and trucks would not have to battle every mile (do they really care).
Such short sightedness on their behalf… once again.

But they, whoever they are, will have to begin to seriously consider thinking.