Britain's network of navigable canals, the liquid highway of England's industrial revolution, is being revived after decades of disuse to help relieve commercial congestion on British roads.
Barges laden with sand, gravel and other construction materials have already been plying the watery byways of western London for several months, and other canals will soon once again become important transport arteries.
A contract signed last year between two private construction companies and British Waterways, the public authority managing the canals, was the first of its kind in 30 years.
But others followed in rapid succession, including contracts for the transport of solid waste to a treatment facility in east London, and the removal of sand and soil along the path of a high-speed rail line under construction between Dover and London.
"Canals could be the answer to traffic congestion as the roads in the UK are already completely gridlocked," explains Ed Fox, spokesman for British Waterways.
Fox estimates that 500,000 tonnes of merchandise transported by canal means 100,000 fewer trucks on the road, helping to reduce both gridlock and pollution.
British Waterways has so far invested ?2 billion (US$3.58 billion) to restore 350km of the network's 2,200km of navigable canals, and is committed to investing more. This is the first significant investment in the system since the 1960s.
Britain's canals were "the catalysts for the industrial revolution at the end of the 18th century," transporting everything from manufactured products to the coal used to fire the factories that made them, Fox said.
Some 3,200km of canals constructed between 1760 and 1840 made it possible to transport up to 30 million tonnes of merchandise annually.
But Fox has no illusions about inland waterways recovering pride of place in Britain's transportation grid.
"We are not talking about the canals as the answer to all London's problems," Fox said, pointing out that only 3.5 tonnes of freight moved along Britain's relatively narrow waterways in 2003.
Transport 2000, a lobbying group encouraging the use of waterways for freight transport, points out that the British economy is unusually road-dependent.
"We compare quite badly with other European countries," notes group spokesman Steve Hounsham, who estimates that 65 percent of commercial freight is moved on roads in Britain, and only one percent by inland waterways.
London's canals are also at the heart of what is potentially the largest urban renewal project ever envisioned for the capital: the 2012 Olympic Games. The city's bid to host the Games focuses on eastern London and environmental integrity.
If London does host the Olympics, its waterways could play a prominent role in ferrying athletes and spectators to and from competition sites.
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