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Unlock Runcorn- The Runcorn Ring


sueanddaren

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⁹As a practical for instance of inclined planes, the slipway at Circus Field will handle a 30 tonne boat on a 9 tonne trolley up a 1 in 15 slope.  It uses a single Dynema cable loop hauled by a 5 tonne winch.  The winch operates off a 32 A 3-phase power supply.

 

It is not man rated, which an inclined plane as part of a trip boat experience would have to be.  That comes with it's own special requirements and  puts the costs up at every step from design to testing.

N

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As a matter of interest, canalplan makes the proposed round trip a 16 hour journey of 45 miles, 7 locks, 2 boat lifts, 3 tunnels and an inclined plane.  This doesn't allow for any waits at tunnels or boat lifts.

 

On a passenger boat that has to fit through Preston Brook ...

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On 20/08/2020 at 14:22, BEngo said:

 

Sorry, but whoever is guiding you to a scheme like this has an axe to grind somewhere. Probably hoping for a load of work downstream and reluctant to kill a goose that might lay golden eggs.

 

It can no doubt be delivered, because capital is relatively easy to come by. It is coughed up by people whose job is to think regeneration is achieved by new, clever and expensive building projects.  The hard part is finding a long term income to keep the simple bits going, as well as the unnecessary complications

 

There are not many possibilities for long term management.  CRT are unlikely to take it on without a substantial endowment and an annual payment- they know what Anderton costs to run and maintain, don't forget.  That endowment will not come from the  capital funds, and any annual contribution from users alone won't go near the costs.  CRT manage the Rochdale for the local councils on this basis, broadly.  How is that working out?

Peel will not touch it with a very long stick unless it can be made to make money.  So that and freight, water supply or tourism.  Forget freight.    As a tourist attraction it competes with Anderton.  That does not make money, even though it is principally a modern hydraulic lift wrapped up in a Victorian/Edwardian structure.  Can't see much money in water supply either.

 

  The local councils have neither money nor expertise.

 

A volunteer body might make it work for a few years  but will struggle to build up the cash reserves to deal with a major breakdown.  With both a lift and a plane the likelihood of problems is more than doubled.

 

The whole scheme needs a really hard headed looking at.

 

N

You see this everywhere around the system, loads of dosh to do things and then they can't even give them a lick of paint or cut the grass 3 years later. Birmingham canals, Dudley No2, Stourbridge, have nice cast iron figures showing mileage and describing what happened in the locality, they must have cost thousands to install, now the look a disgrace for a drop of paint. On the way down to Chester at the old Iron lock the build a nice garden, did they consider paying for a gardner to maintain it?

 

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48 minutes ago, BEngo said:

⁹As a practical for instance of inclined planes, the slipway at Circus Field will handle a 30 tonne boat on a 9 tonne trolley up a 1 in 15 slope.  It uses a single Dynema cable loop hauled by a 5 tonne winch.  The winch operates off a 32 A 3-phase power supply.

 

It is not man rated, which an inclined plane as part of a trip boat experience would have to be.  That comes with it's own special requirements and  puts the costs up at every step from design to testing.

N

The Circus Field slipway uses a dry cradle. A water filled caisson capable of containing a 30 tonne boat would weigh a whole lot more, and require a correspondingly larger winch.

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5 minutes ago, David Mack said:

The Circus Field slipway uses a dry cradle. A water filled caisson capable of containing a 30 tonne boat would weigh a whole lot more, and require a correspondingly larger winch.

Is it planned to be wide beamed then

 

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2 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Is it planned to be wide beamed then

 

I'd be very surprised if it wasn't

 

7 minutes ago, David Mack said:

The Circus Field slipway uses a dry cradle. A water filled caisson capable of containing a 30 tonne boat would weigh a whole lot more, and require a correspondingly larger winch.

Foxton I think the tanks with water (and ipso facto, with boat as Mr Achimedes explains) were 270 tonnes - it's pulling them up a gradient on rails that makes it comparatively easy, although care is needed to avoid sloshing.

1 hour ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

The Anderton lift is two independent caissons with their own counterweights now. 

Not quite true - the hydraulics normally counterbalance BUT if one caisson is out of action the other one can be worked independently

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4 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

Not quite true - the hydraulics normally counterbalance BUT if one caisson is out of action the other one can be worked independently

 

That makes more sense, as I discussed above.

 

There's a huge energy saving available if you are only powering the "thumb on the scales" compared to powering the whole lift of all the weight.

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There have been several suggestions for incline planes in the past, including the one on the Whitchurch Arm. The advantage of an incline plane would save water and probably create a tourist feature such as exists at Falkirk with the wheel. It could provide a challenge for British engineers, but until some concrete plan is produced with costs, it is still difficult to see anything happening 

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  • 1 year later...

Locks, a lift, and an inclined plane indeed!

 

I am a bit late to this thread, having been aware the new bridge has removed the road blocking the project at the time, I have recently started working at Runcorn/Weston and already doing a reasonable amount of boating Weaver, so its right up my street.

 

There is a good fall between the two waterways, however it does seem a trifle overcooked to have three types of level change technology. from the information I've see the one staircase lock proposed appears to be in the location of the middle staircase. Therefore presumably both the lift and inclined plane have around two staircases' fall each.

 

I don't know if any work has been done on a link to Weaver, and perhaps the 'winding hole' by the railway being 'two locks' down rather than one puts it at a better level for a link following Percival Lane and joining up to what remains of the old Runcorn and Weston canal. But certainly a link to the Weaver would make the link a more accessible and hence usable one the having to do 350yrds of the MSC! Its a maddening distance, with half of it being basically waste lane, but other half is active industrial works build over the old docks.

 

Two key maps below.

 

 

Daniel

 

 

 

http://unlockruncorn.org/the-plan/

masterplan-reduced.jpg

https://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/m.dodge/mappingmanchester/leech/No11_Bridgewater_Docks_Runcorn.jpg

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There were nineteenth century engineers who had an eye for inventiveness. And, I think of Frederick Giles and his plan to cross the Mersey ! Yet, this scheme as posted above must rank on the borders between genious and insanity. Locks, boat lift, and an incline plane may test the modern engineer, but as to practicality and useful purpose is another pair of questions that deserve discussion. Why cannot the original stair case pairs of locks be restored?

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5 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

It hasn't got the wow factor, there are hundreds of locks, people wont flock to look at just some more locks, it has to be spectacular.

I wouldn't be so sure, Foxton outscores Anderton Lift by a factor of 4 to 1. Elsewhere the Kelpies do get big numbers but they aren't actually a navigation structure. 

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28 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

I wouldn't be so sure, Foxton outscores Anderton Lift by a factor of 4 to 1. Elsewhere the Kelpies do get big numbers but they aren't actually a navigation structure. 

 

And Marple is pretty popular, as is Devizes, and Hatton. A pretty and busy flight of locks is going to be popular. A small family walked most of Marple with us with the children giving a little bit of help at every lock, you can't do that with a boat lift. Sadly there is no tea room or shop, a missed opportunity from CRT.

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