River Diving

[yearley]

Afternoon all,

Does the BSAC have guideance/ conditions for river diving?

I understand that i need permission from the environment agency (for the Thames) and they are quite an agreeable bunch. But since i am a member of a BSAC branch and the diving will be conducted through said club, i was wondering if there is any specific conditions that need to be met from a BSAC perspective.

The dive will be solely for pleasure reasons without any commercial association, so taking a quick look through th diving operations at work regulations it won't be a commercial dive.

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

tom

[garfield32]

Hi Tom,

If I remember correctly you're a new member of RUBSAC? My club, Reading BSAC used to do a sponsored swim in the Thames. I believe that the EPA put a stop to it because of Health and Safety reasons. However some of the old lags may be able to provide more details, give advice etc. You're welcome to come along on a Thursday night ask about. Chris Martin / Chris Cheshire knows where our club house is or you can look at the map on our website http://www.rbsac.org.uk

Regards

Gareth

[bythesea]

I used to river dive..... be aware that the flow of water can carry you far from your point of entry, and I mean far...

Viz can be very bad especially after heavy rain and there are many entanglement risks....old bikes, shopping trollys etc.

However, if you get the right river who knows what you will find.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/oct/22/durham-cathedral-divers-sunken-treasure

[SimonF]

From memory the EA were keen that you had A Flags at each end of the area you were diving in, with shore cover and a surface cover boat as well.

But then people have just gone diving at 7am on a Sunday morning before any of locks start operating and hence avoid any river traffic, with SMBs and someone on the shore in case...

As BTS has said, avoid rivers after heavy rain fall - the Thames was pants for about a week after any significant fall (both viz and speed of flow). Also, depending on where you are looking to dive, be aware of fallen trees/ branches etc out of the main river course (or make sure you have line cutters and a spare SMB).

[GaryC]

I suppose it all depends on the river but the one here is best dived in Winter to cut down algy and all that stuff.
2 weeks of no rain can give quite good visibility. (normally 1m but 2 weeks no rain can give you 3-4 metres.
Its British Waterways that control diving and traffic and they can be very bearacratic. You will need a full Risk assessment doing. Boat traffic will have priority so advisible to dive early before it comes out.
Dive upstream so that the silt you create flows down stream away from you.
You will always need an SMB. With A Flag.
A high visibility hood is advisable.

A lot of the boat traffic can be Joe public who has no idea so make sure the divers are not new with the chance of bolting to the surface.

Take a goody bag.
Don't turn tin lids over cos something will live under it. (Can be scary in low viz)

Gary

[yearley]

Thanks for your input guys. Apologies that it's taken me a while to reply!

I am indeed the new guy from the RUBSAC club, in fact it looks like i may end up as Dive Officer, which wasn't exactly what i was planning when i joined the club to find new buddies! I'm planning on popping into Reading BSAC this Thursday (22nd Feb) to give some cylinders to Roger so I’ll ask around :o)

I've spoken to the EA and their instructions seem relatively straight forward. I accept there are the usual considerations to be taken regarding boat traffic and priorities are a bit of a pain. However, we have access to cover support and the Agency has given preliminary support to our project.

The main action that I’m trying to close is 'what are the BSAC requirements/ guidelines for river diving?'. Bizarrely this is proving more difficult than getting information out of the Environment Agency, who are usually reluctant to put anything in writing (well done guys). As far as i can tell, i need either a Dive Leader (if they have dived the site before) or an Advanced Diver (if the site is new). Due to the nature of your average river, this will be treated as an 'expedition' and an Advanced Diver will be present.

cheers,
Tom

[Woz]

I know some guys that dived Trent Bridge. Several shopping trolleys, a Canon camera, a kids bike and a large quantity of quite distressing pornography.

[David Tombs]

I know some guys that dived Trent Bridge. Several shopping trolleys, a Canon camera, a kids bike and a large quantity of quite distressing pornography.
Did they miss the guns in Nottingham then?

[Woz]

Did they miss the guns in Nottingham then?Disappointingly not a single gun.