Docks’ last shipbuilders fear battle against silt is being lost.

Gloucester’s last shipwrights fear the battle against the silt in the Docks is being lost.

Tommi Nielsen’s firm has developed a worldwide reputation for working with historic wooden ships over the last four decades.

He and Sarah White set up the traditional shipbuilding, rigging and restoration specialists T. Nielsen and Company in 1988.

However, Mr Nielsen is among the many locals who are extremely concerned about the impact the build up of silt is having to the Gloucester and Sharpness canal .

In recent times, it has made it difficult for larger vessels to access the Docks. And the main cause of silt ingress is due to water is pumped from the River Severn into The Docks.

This is done to supply Bristol with around half of its drinking water. The trust has a long term contract with Bristol Water which is not deemed to be very favourable for the waterways charity.

Around 200 million litres are extracted from Sharpness for Bristol Water. But last year, around 50,000 cubic metres of silt entered the Docks.

The Canal and River Trust has invested millions in dredging in recent years and Gloucester will account for around a third of the trust’s national dredging budget.

They are halfway through a £4.5 million recovery programme after an unprecedented level of silt entered from the river during the exceptionally dry weather last summer.

Until the year 2000, the bucket dredger Thomas Fletcher worked on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. It used to fill 24 buckets a minute with each carrying half a tonne of mud.

The dredged mud was then transported by barge and disrcharged into the river at Purton.

But changes to environmental regulations means this no longer takes place which has made the issue harder to tackle in recent years.

Mr Nielsen said he has a great relationship with the Canal and River Trust and commends the huge efforts they are putting into solving the problem. But he fears they are losing the battle.

The number of ships and boats T. Nielsen and Company repair that reach them by road have increased as the silt issue has gotten worse, he said.

“Because of the silt build up in the Docks, which has been happening for a long time now, we can’t get any more tall ships for work as we used to,” he said.

“The ships that we can get in have to be smaller and smaller.

“We rely more and more on bringing ships and vessels in by road.

“We could get large three-masted tall ships in and work on them 15 years ago but that is something that is impossible now.”

He is pleased that the initial plans to develop the land at West Quay have been withdrawn as the development would have been “catastrophic” for them.

“We work on them on the land outside the workshops which this development would have seriously affected,” he added.

“We are pleased that there has been so much support for the shipyard locally.”

The Canal and River Trust said will continue to work hard to improve conditions and do all they can to maintain the operability of Gloucester Docks.

“Around a third of our charity’s entire national dredging budget is being invested into Gloucester Docks”, a spokesperson said.

“We’re halfway through a £4.5 million recovery programme after an unprecedented level of silt entered from the River Severn during the exceptionally dry weather last summer. 37,000 tonnes of silt have been removed with the next phase due to begin in the autumn.

“We’re in regular dialogue with T. Nielsen and value their contribution to the Docks, alongside the other businesses.

“We’ll continue to work hard to improve conditions and, with our dredging plans, are doing all we can to maintain the operability of Gloucester Docks.”