Swing Bridges

[Living the Dream]

Hi Everyone

 

I am currently cruising from Foulridge to Doncaster. I was single crewed until my good lady took pity on me and binned work for a week and joined me on the return trip.

 

What I was dreading on the return trip was going through swing bridges on my own, especially as the swing bridges on the Leeds Liverpool open on the offside to the towpath. On the way to Doncaster I teamed up with Judith on NB Snapdragon. She mentioned that I would have to tie my boat to the swing bridge and when it opened my boat would be dragged through with the bridge.

 

While i dont disagree with this. I really feel the I will have no control over the boat or it will be banged about all over the place. Has anyone done this or do they have a better technique for this manouvre. Or................am I just being a wuss and should tie the boat to the swing bridge and let it happen????

 

Happy Cruising

Dave

[Windjammer]

I've never tried that and am not too enamoured.

Surely it depends on which way the swing bridge is moving and assumes there is no other traffic about.

[gaggle]

a lot of the swing bridges have chains hanging down into the water and attached to the opposite bank or that is what it looks like.

as i had a gang of kids to open the bridges for me it was not a struggle and each bridge i never inspected the chains to check if they could be used for pulling the gate shut/open.

[magnetman]

At manual swing bridges i push the bridge open with the long shaft drive the boat thru then chuck a small grappling iron across to pull it shut. Or use the boat to pull it shut/open.

[Alan Saunders]

a lot of the swing bridges have chains hanging down into the water and attached to the opposite bank or that is what it looks like. as i had a gang of kids to open the bridges for me it was not a struggle and each bridge i never inspected the chains to check if they could be used for pulling the gate shut/open.

I think these may be lift bridges? Still a problem if they don't stay open without some weight on the beam e.g. Banbury only few years back - a mob of hoodies happily sat on the beam whilst I passed! Cue the 'short stick & rope' when assistance is not forthcoming - would not work on aforesaid Banbury lift bridge, too heavy.

 

If I cannot open a swing bridge alone there is often a diminutive lady around who can! Alternatively, I tie the bow to the bridge and get it started (push or pull) then climb onto the bridge, take the line ashore and complete the opening. No 'bashing around' but, so long as its below the gunwales, most NBs are built to take it, 'watch out for yer winders tho'.

 

Don't rush, think it through; eventually there will be a queue of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians only too willing to help out. A swing bridge can sometimes take longer than a lock.

 

Alan Saunders

[allybsc]

My partner has done the odd one on his own, not developed an elegant techique tho' it has been a mixture of scrambling up the non towpath side, opening bridge, scrambling down, moving boat, closing bridge with chain, walking over and locking it and setting off again. The only time we have pulled the bridge open with the boat was when it was too stiff for me to open, we had to reverse to do it, about half way open the bridge suddenly shot open and the boat nearly got stuck underneath it, but then we are very low at the bow being a tug type an' all. Plenty of people do it, just a time consuming pain.

Ally.

[MartinClark]

What I was dreading on the return trip was going through swing bridges on my own, especially as the swing bridges on the Leeds Liverpool open on the offside to the towpath.

Don't all swing bridges do that? After all, when they were built, the boat horse needed to tow the boat through the bridge hole unimpeded.

 

It was originally intended that sailing barges would be able to pass along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal without constantly having to pull down their masts, which is the reason for the large number of swing bridges there. Apart from the sailing barges, many boats were horse-drawn and some pulled for shorter distances by teams of men, hence the need for the off-side swing bridges.

[Hairy-Neil]

Don't all swing bridges do that?

 

Moy Swingbridge, Caledonian Canal.........

[John Orentas]

Don't all swing bridges do that? After all, when they were built, the boat horse needed to tow the boat through the bridge hole unimpeded.

 

 

And in the early and busy times of working boat days I understand that the bridges, or at least the less busy ones were left open to the canal.

[gaggle]

I think these may be lift bridges? Still a problem if they don't stay open without some weight on the beam e.g. Banbury only few years back - a mob of hoodies happily sat on the beam whilst I passed! Cue the 'short stick & rope' when assistance is not forthcoming - would not work on aforesaid Banbury lift bridge, too heavy.

 

If I cannot open a swing bridge alone there is often a diminutive lady around who can! Alternatively, I tie the bow to the bridge and get it started (push or pull) then climb onto the bridge, take the line ashore and complete the opening. No 'bashing around' but, so long as its below the gunwales, most NBs are built to take it, 'watch out for yer winders tho'.

 

Don't rush, think it through; eventually there will be a queue of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians only too willing to help out. A swing bridge can sometimes take longer than a lock.

 

Alan Saunders

alan i think i know the difference between a lift bridge and a swing bridge , i i am talking about swing bridges .the ones i refer to are on the leeds end of the leeds and liverpool.

[Living the Dream]

Thanks for all the replies. Im still not convinced though. I reckon I will take a close look at the bridges on the way back as my good lady adds to her muscle tone pushing bridges!!!

 

We are moored in the armoury at Leeds for the night. Really secure but we are all double birthed, not a problem though. If you ever pass its worth a visit.

 

Take care

Dave

[Albatross]

It was originally intended that sailing barges would be able to pass along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal without constantly having to pull down their masts, which is the reason for the large number of swing bridges there.

 

Surely that's not right, what happens when they get to the next stone bridge? I've never seen a picture of a sailing boat on the L&L.

Swing bridges were just for cheapness.

There's an old story that when a farmer sold a cow at market he came home and built a swing bridge with the profit.

[MartinClark]

Surely that's not right, what happens when they get to the next stone bridge? I've never seen a picture of a sailing boat on the L&L.

Swing bridges were just for cheapness.

Swing bridges were for sailing barges. Just because you haven't seen a picture of it doesn't mean it didn't happen. A sailing barge had to lower its mast to get under a stone bridge, which is why many of the stone bridges would have originally been built as swing bridges.

 

The Yorkshire side was built for Humber keels, while the Lancashire end was built for Mersy flats, which is why the Lancashire end has longer locks.

 

Leeds and Liverpool expert Mike Clarke has an explanatory web page on the subject:

http://www.mike.clarke.zen.co.uk/Sailing-barges.htm

 

I quote a little bit from that page:

"Swing bridges were provided where roads crossed the new canal. These soon proved troublesome, particularly where the road was heavily used, and many were quickly replaced with stone overbridges. These must have acted as a major deterrent to the use of sailing barges, even when their masts could be lowered."

 

The Sankey Canal, on the other hand, which was specifically designed for Mersey sailing flats, had all swing bridges, even for the railways when they arrived (apart from the 70 ft high Sankey viaduct).

[RobinJ]

alan i think i know the difference between a lift bridge and a swing bridge , i i am talking about swing bridges .the ones i refer to are on the leeds end of the leeds and liverpool.

A chain was common when they were installed, but fell in neglect, recently a lot have been replaced.

Problem is they are designed to close the bridge when your on the opposite side, not open them, so it doesn't help.

[David Schweizer]

In have travelled the full length of the K&A numerous times single handed, and operating the many swing bridges without a crew can be a pain. However, I was given instructiions by Peter on Gospel Belle, which have served me well. This is how to do it single handed:-

 

First of all you need a pole about 5ft long with a pointed end. (surveyors poles are ideal as they have steel sheath over the pointed end), screw a screw eye into the other end of the pole, about 2"from the top. Run a 30ft length of light rope through the screw eye and tie a knot in the end of the rope to stop it pulling through. Fit a cheap Karabina or large screw link to the other end of the line. The other equipment you need is a club hammer and possible the boat pole.

 

The Method:-

 

Tie the boat up against the towpath and approach the swing bridge carrying all your "equipment"

 

Attatch the Karabina end of the rope to the towpath end of the bridge's left hand side hand rail (viewed fronm the towpath).

 

Take the pole and hammer it into the mound on the towpath side, opposite where the end of the bridge will rest when open.

 

Using as much force as you can muster, push the swing bridge open from the towpath side, If neccessary use the boat pole to push it further over. (The bridge does not have to be fully open as long as the boat can pass through the opened space with ease)

 

Pull the rope through the screw eye until it is reasonably tight, making sure that it does not start to close the bridge, and tie the rope off on the pole.

 

Move the boat through the bridge and tie it up on the other side. There should be sufficient clearance for the boat to pass under the rope, but have a boat hook handy just in case it has to be lifted slightly to clear chimneys etc.

 

Go back to the bridge and pull it back to the towpath bank with the light rope.

 

Untie everything, remove the pole and continue on your way.

 

I have used this method numerous times without failure, although my prefferred method is still to hope that some dog walker, or hiker will appear and offer to do it for me. I have even had a fisherman do it for me once.

Edited September 21, 2007 by David Schweizer

[John Orentas]

I don't think there is much history of using sail power on the canals, the Bridgewater was built with that possibility in mind and there is that famous picture of a sailing barge crossing the original Barton aqueduct but there is surely some artistic license involved. With the possible exception of some of the 'Drains' I don't think it ever caught on.

[fender]

I don't think there is much history of using sail power on the canals, the Bridgewater was built with that possibility in mind and there is that famous picture of a sailing barge crossing the original Barton aqueduct but there is surely some artistic license involved. With the possible exception of some of the 'Drains' I don't think it ever caught on.

 

the North Walsham - Dilham canal in Norfolk used sail power as there was no towpath

[John Orentas]

the North Walsham - Dilham canal in Norfolk used sail power as there was no towpath

 

 

 

Fender:

 

When we talk about 'canals' it is usually presumed that we refer to the interconnected system, the isolated waterway you mention is about as far from the canal system as it is possible to get in England.

[fender]

Fender:

 

When we talk about 'canals' it is usually presumed that we refer to the interconnected system, the isolated waterway you mention is about as far from the canal system as it is possible to get in England.

 

it was just a mention, besides the witham navigable drains aren't really seen as a canal anyway. John, if you want to talkabout interconnected waterways, then I'll just point out that a few of our canals used sailing barges as the norm, these include the Thames and Medway and Lee Navigation, although perhaps the sails were not generally utilised unless the vessels were on the Thames itself.