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Problem with Tooleys lift bridge


Dr Bob

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31 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/16345-bridge-164c-tooleys-lift-bridge-oxford

 

Anyone in Banbury at the moment? What are the queues like?

We were planning to be going through (northwards) tomorrow morning. Its been very quite with little traffic coming south today so perhaps there have been problems all day.

Its really low tech stuff, why on earth to CRT have to use contractors for things like this?

 

..............Dave

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8 minutes ago, dmr said:

Its really low tech stuff, why on earth to CRT have to use contractors for things like this?

 

..............Dave

Because the people who used to know how to fix these things either no longer work for CRT, or work for contractors who have other clients as well as CRT and seeing as the boating season is virtually finished in CRT eyes, there isnt a priority....

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52 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/16345-bridge-164c-tooleys-lift-bridge-oxford

 

Anyone in Banbury at the moment? What are the queues like?

We were planning to be going through (northwards) tomorrow morning. Its been very quite with little traffic coming south today so perhaps there have been problems all day.

Ahh, time for more beer then :D just make sure the pubs are open!! :blink:

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7 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

I cant see why they just couldnt leave it up. There's another bridge 50 yards away.

I assume a pipe has burst or a union come undone and its only hydraulic pressure that keeps the bridge up, but whatever the fault keeping a compromised bridge in the up position could be risky, and it might inconvenience a cyclist.

 

And to be fair, the main footbridge has been removed whilst they build the new hotel and "beverage destinations" so this little bridge is even more important for pedestrians.

 

..............Dave

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2 minutes ago, dmr said:

I assume a pipe has burst or a union come undone and its only hydraulic pressure that keeps the bridge up, but whatever the fault keeping a compromised bridge in the up position could be risky, and it might inconvenience a cyclist.

 

And to be fair, the main footbridge has been removed whilst they build the new hotel and "beverage destinations" so this little bridge is even more important for pedestrians.

 

..............Dave

Aye, I guess you are right. I wondered where the main footbridge went to!

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Just now, David Mack said:

Isn't this problem what a Banbury Stick is for?

Only realy works on proper unmessed with lift bridges. remember most of those have been replaced with modern stuff with built in failure points such as hydraulics or electrics.

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Given the main footbridge in Banbury seems to have gone and the lift bridge is the nearest alternative, I find myself wondering if it has stopped working because locals have got so chuffed off with it being UP for long periods repeatedly while boats pass (slowly) through, that they have clandestinely disabled it. 

 

The next opportunity to cross being another couple of hundred yards further away beyond the lock.

 

 

Edited by Mike the Boilerman
gammar
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42 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Given the main footbridge in Banbury seems to have gone and the lift bridge is the nearest alternative, I find myself wondering if it has stopped working because locals have got so chuffed off with it being UP for long periods repeatedly while boats pass (slowly) through, that they have clandestinely disabled it. 

 

The next opportunity to cross being another couple of hundred yards further away beyond the lock.

 

 

Lots of the locals just cross the gates

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I (may be) a dumb southerner - but which other bridge(s) have been removed?

I'm assuming the one referred to above is the bridge between the 'upstream' (I'm a river user...) end of the shopping centre and the carparks?

But, what about the footbridge over the lock tail - which surely is nearer the failed liftbridge  - causing only a slight inconvenience  to pedestrians.

 

All a bit academic now as is probably being fixed / well on the way to being fixed...

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3 hours ago, Jim Riley said:

Aren't there some instructions for dealing with lift bridges somewhere. Who was it had them? Maybe they could share them? 

I think they got lost in the house move...

 

... or maybe the pup ate them. 

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1 hour ago, OldGoat said:

I (may be) a dumb southerner - but which other bridge(s) have been removed?

I'm assuming the one referred to above is the bridge between the 'upstream' (I'm a river user...) end of the shopping centre and the carparks?

But, what about the footbridge over the lock tail - which surely is nearer the failed liftbridge  - causing only a slight inconvenience  to pedestrians.

 

All a bit academic now as is probably being fixed / well on the way to being fixed...

As I think has already been implied, most locals seem to go over the top gate rather than walk the extra miles to the bridge!

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The main traffic over the recently removed footbridge was, I suspect, between the shopping mall and the multi-story car park on the opposite side of the cut. Now the car park has gone along with the bridge, maybe they weren't expecting much traffic over the lift bridge.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

As I think has already been implied, most locals seem to go over the top gate rather than walk the extra miles to the bridge!

The footbridge is 10 ft from the bottom lock gate. Yes 50% of the people today crossed the top gate rather than walk round (50 yards round trip)as we were coming up.

As for the lift bridge. It was lifted to let a boat come the other way and then I went through. By the time Mrs Bob was about to lower it, there were about 20 people waiting to cross (11.30 am ish). Busy bridge. I can see why the locals get upset at incompenent slow boaters.

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5 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

As for the lift bridge. It was lifted to let a boat come the other way and then I went through. By the time Mrs Bob was about to lower it, there were about 20 people waiting to cross (11.30 am ish). Busy bridge. I can see why the locals get upset at incompenent slow boaters.

 

And on the odd occasion I go through, I find if you wait for all pedestrians to cross before you start winding it up you'll be waiting all day, so much foot traffic does it carry!

 

 

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Many years ago I got stuck under the bridge trying to get out of the lock loaded, there was lots of very angry people calling me names and offering helpful suggestions. As I couldn’t  go forward or reverse most of the advice was useless. Eventually another boat came above the lock and I got him to flush some water down and I got over the obstacle. When reported to bwb I was told one of our boats stuck there last week.

Here’s a proper lift bridge on the canal du centre France. The one behind goes up vertically.

21CB9ACC-06EF-4240-AEF0-ECDA706B0C0C.jpeg

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33 minutes ago, Dav and Pen said:

Many years ago I got stuck under the bridge

A few years back I got stuck under a lift bridge when single handing, and there was nobody else about. Its a bit unnerving knowing you are probably going to be there for some time, and all that is stopping the bridge from crashing down on the boat is a bit of hydraulic pressure.

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