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Graffiti removed from Wolverhampton's canal bridges

10th Mar 2010

Important features of Wolverhampton’s industrial heritage are set to be revealed in the coming weeks as a project to remove layers of graffiti from many of the city’s canal bridges gets underway.

The 8 week project, being undertaken in partnership between British Waterways and Wolverhampton City Council, will see graffiti removed from approximately half of the bridges along the city’s canal network.

It’s hoped that the project will make the Wolverhampton canal network more attractive and reveal important heritage features enabling local communities to take greater pride in their local environment.

Locals take pride in canal heritage

As the bridges vary in age the graffiti will be removed using a new technique aimed at protecting the brickwork of historic structures.

A team of workers from British Waterways’ contractor May Gurney will spray the bridges with a special gel to dissolve the paint before removing both the gel and the paint with jets of steam. A suction system will be used to capture the paint residue to ensure that the canal isn’t polluted.

The project will target bridges owned by both British Waterways and Wolverhampton City Council on the Birmingham Mainline and Staffordshire & Worcester Canals.

Encourage families to visit canals

John Harris, British Waterways’ senior regeneration manager said; "This project will breathe new life into the region’s historic canal network. By removing the graffiti we hope to make the Wolverhampton canal network more welcoming and give people a sense of pride and ownership in their local canal, encouraging more families to go out and rediscover what it has to offer."

Last updated: 15/03/2010

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