There’s a floater stuck in the river. What is it? Why is it? Who’s going to fix it? Our runaway watercraft correspondent Angus Young reports.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a sunken crane barge dredger stuck in the mud wedged the wrong way across the River Hull.
Having slipped its moorings from a shipyard further upriver last week, the unmanned vessel drifted downstream going under North Bridge and Drypool Bridge before eventually ending up stuck near the former Trinity House Buoy Shed. Efforts to refloat her were due to get underway this week. It’s the responsibility of the barge’s owner – working with the harbourmaster, council and the Environment Agency – to sort the situation. Divers will be pumping the ship out soon.
The sad sight, though, of the 75-year-old barge marooned on the mudflats at low tide and almost totally submerged at high tide seems to sum up the current malaise hanging over the river and the city’s waterfront in general. Let’s recap…
The same mud has caused a delay in bringing the former Arctic Corsair trawler back to the river in a new dry dock berth. The city council has yet to secure a dredging licence after concerns were raised over the disposal of silt needed to be removed from the river to allow the ship to reach the North End Shipyard. As a result, last year’s intended opening of the new visitor attraction at the shipyard has been pushed back to an as yet unspecified date in the future.
Meanwhile, nearby Drypool Bridge is due to close to road traffic for six months shortly to allow engineers to repair corroding concrete support columns under the main bridge deck. Without the work being carried out, it’s likely a weight limit would be required to prevent heavy vehicles from using it because of safety concerns.
Work has also yet to start at Chapman Street Bridge on a long-awaited repair project. The bridge is closed to road traffic in 2020 and is only accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.
Major repairs are also due to be carried out on Scale Lane Bridge with several bearings expected to be replaced. No date for that work has yet been confirmed.
In addition, there’s still no sign of the promised scheme at the site of the old Scott Street Bridge to mark the fleeting appearance of a Banksy artwork there in early 2018. Meanwhile, the artwork itself – Draw The Raised Bridge – remains under lock and key in a secret council-owned location. Maybe it will finally be put on public display soon. It’s been seven years since it was painted.
Back on the riverside, the council recently announced the wooden West Bank boardwalk next to the Museums Quarter will remain closed to public access for another two years while contractors carry out a structural survey before deciding on its future. It’s only been four years since it closed due to safety concerns. Had it been open, the boardwalk would have provided the perfect place to view the sunken barge. As it is, the public footpath on the opposite East Bank comes to an abrupt halt next to the former Dock House hostel with access to the riverfront blocked by a locked metal gate.
The old hostel and the adjacent empty Buoy Shed form part of the proposed East Bank Urban Village development. At the moment though, both buildings and most of the surrounding land remain derelict.
Then there’s Victoria Pier, closed to the public since 2020 on safety grounds and awaiting a similar structural examination before the 200-year-old landmark discovers its fate.
If all this wasn’t enough, repairs are still being carried out further upriver near Wilmington Bridge following the collapse of a large section of piling last December.
You might think that being Yorkshire’s Maritime City, our civic leaders might be keen on showcasing the ancient watercourse which the city is named after. Then again, maybe not at the moment.