Hack Green Bottom Lock

[David Mack]

I reckon it will be closed soon. The bottom cill has blown. With the lock half full and the bottom paddles closed it looks like this:

 

And with the top paddles open you can only get the lock up about 6 inches below the pound level. So this is how CRT open the top gate:

[magnetman]

I assume someone has been with a long shaft and prodded the spike around to ensure there isn't simply a piece of waterlogged wood in there.

 

The position of the walkway on the offisde bottom gate does appear to indicate an obstruction as it doesn't seem to have closed properly. 

 

This is very elementary so I'm quite sure it has been checked.

 

Edited October 1, 2020 by magnetman

[Rob-M]

Better than the boat ramming the gate.

[magnetman]

With the condition of some of the woodwork I would be a bit cautious about hauling on the end of the balance beam with a 3 ton tirfor ! 

 

 

[Tracy D'arth]

This lock was like this 18 days ago when I reported it as a blown cill.   There were 8 boats waiting to go down, the mid pound was full of boats and the level getting lower as they tried to get the lock to fill.

The reply was that it is to be fixed in the winter stoppage and that they are monitoring the situation.

 

It does get better if the gate mitres are carefully matched when closing the gates, but no much.

 

It won't last that long.

 

Any chance of ""maintenance""?

[magnetman]

There are some stop planks there by the lock. It can't be rocket science to put them in and drain down at least to eyeball the situation and perhaps do a temporary fix. 

 

Having said that I'm not sure if elfin safety allows for these old planks to be used any more. CRT would probably have to get some new ones made up for the job... 

 

 

[Pluto]

I think they tend to use aluminium rectangular section ones now as they can't be burnt when left on site. It is also difficult to do a safety evaluation on paper for wood planks.

[ditchcrawler]

I think they are using wood here on the T&M Cheshire flight

[Flyboy]

1 hour ago, Pluto said:

I think they tend to use aluminium rectangular section ones now as they can't be burnt when left on site. It is also difficult to do a safety evaluation on paper for wood planks.

Aluminium ones are much better, they make a good price at the scrapyard.  

[Hudds Lad]

didn't they just fix Hack Green locks in the last winter stoppage? or was it the year before?

 

i definitely remember a period of time where both Hack Green and Audlem were shut thus making trips out from Overwater a tad short

[Tracy D'arth]

1 hour ago, Hudds Lad said:

didn't they just fix Hack Green locks in the last winter stoppage? or was it the year before?

 

i definitely remember a period of time where both Hack Green and Audlem were shut thus making trips out from Overwater a tad short

If it was Hack Green #2 and last year or even the year before, it wasn't much of a job as its well crook now.

 

Stanthorne lock is a joke too. They have bolted and welded stops on both gate paddles to stop them opening more than a quarter. I suppose this is to make a point that they still maintain that it was the water rushing through the lock that caused the major breach. What folly, we all know that it was ignoring the danger signs for years that was responsible.

[Hudds Lad]

38 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

If it was Hack Green #2 and last year or even the year before, it wasn't much of a job as its well crook now.

 

Stanthorne lock is a joke too. They have bolted and welded stops on both gate paddles to stop them opening more than a quarter. I suppose this is to make a point that they still maintain that it was the water rushing through the lock that caused the major breach. What folly, we all know that it was ignoring the danger signs for years that was responsible.

sadly, when it comes to repairs nowadays, temporary is the new permanent  

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Hack Green top (1) lock repaired this year. Not the bottom lock.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/15223-hack-green-lock-1-shropshire-union-canal

Bottom lock in 2017

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/9915-hack-green-locks-reopen

Edited October 2, 2020 by Jen-in-Wellies

[Tracy D'arth]

7 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Hack Green top (1) lock repaired this year. Not the bottom lock.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/15223-hack-green-lock-1-shropshire-union-canal

Bottom lock in 2017

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/9915-hack-green-locks-reopen

Less than 3 years before its knackered again then.

 

Not good is it?

 

When you consider that the Bosley flight has steel gates made in 1976 that are still in excellent condition this is terribly  poor.

[David Mack]

Tyrley Top Lock is heading the same way.

[ditchcrawler]

On 01/10/2020 at 16:43, magnetman said:

There are some stop planks there by the lock. It can't be rocket science to put them in and drain down at least to eyeball the situation and perhaps do a temporary fix. 

 

Having said that I'm not sure if elfin safety allows for these old planks to be used any more. CRT would probably have to get some new ones made up for the job... 

 

 

Surly it will require much more than just a set of stop planks to drain down and examine the bottom gate cill

[Tracy D'arth]

11 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Surly it will require much more than just a set of stop planks to drain down and examine the bottom gate cill

Need a pump.

All the safety fencing.

Tape.

Gas analyser.

Safety officer.

It gets complicated.

[magnetman]

Interesting to consider how it would have been done back in the days of working canals, no electricity and loads of labourers. I bet they could get that done in no time. 

 

Being the bottom lock it would need pumping or bailing out. 

 

These days all you really need is stop planks, a puddle sucker and a generator to run it but elfin safety says no...

 

 

 

 

[WhiteSuit]

Just been told this is now a closure on the towpath telegraph. Haven't been sent notifications but on CRT since yesterday at 4

[Tracy D'arth]

14 minutes ago, WhiteSuit said:

Just been told this is now a closure on the towpath telegraph. Haven't been sent notifications but on CRT since yesterday at 4

Knew it would be, monitoring doesn't fix locks.  It would be farcical if it was not so facile. 

 

Is there a time scale for the repair or are the queues of boats just expected to get longer on this vital cruising ring with many many hire boats unable to get back to their bases in time?

[David Mack]

On 01/10/2020 at 16:01, David Mack said:

I reckon it will be closed soon. The bottom cill has blown.

 

1 hour ago, WhiteSuit said:

Just been told this is now a closure on the towpath telegraph. Haven't been sent notifications but on CRT since yesterday at 4

 

What did I say?

 

Hack Green Lock 2, Baddington, Shropshire Union Canal.

Detail

From Date: 03/10/2020 16:00

To Date: On-going

Type: Navigation Closure

Reason: Structure failure

Is the towpath closed? No

Location

Closest waterway: Shropshire Union Canal

Starts at: Hack Green Winding Hole

Ends at: Moss Hall Winding Hole

Upstream winding hole: Hack Green Winding Hole.

Downstream winding hole: Moss Hall Winding Hole.

Description

The cill liners on the bottom gates of Hack Green Lock 2 have failed and the resultant leakage means the water level cannot be gained within the lock to open the top gates.

 

[AndrewIC]

On 02/10/2020 at 10:52, Tracy D'arth said:

 

Stanthorne lock is a joke too. They have bolted and welded stops on both gate paddles to stop them opening more than a quarter. I suppose this is to make a point that they still maintain that it was the water rushing through the lock that caused the major breach. What folly, we all know that it was ignoring the danger signs for years that was responsible.

Stanthorne is a shambles. Not only does the lock take an age to empty because the paddles have been crocked, you’re supposed to wait until the lock is half empty to relieve the water pressure before trying to raise the offside bottom paddle, and even then it needs a long-throw windlass. Presumably the gate is so rotten that it distorts enough to jam the paddle. But there’s a nice yellow “we’re aware of the problem and working on finding a solution notice” to read while you’re waiting. Two-hour queues reported.

[WhiteSuit]

3 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Knew it would be, monitoring doesn't fix locks.  It would be farcical if it was not so facile. 

 

Is there a time scale for the repair or are the queues of boats just expected to get longer on this vital cruising ring with many many hire boats unable to get back to their bases in time?

No timescale given, the blown cill at Buckby in August took a week.

We are having to make a decision as to wait or turn around and use th T&M in order to be at Stourbridge for the end of the month. 

[David Mack]

18 minutes ago, WhiteSuit said:

No timescale given, the blown cill at Buckby in August took a week.

We are having to make a decision as to wait or turn around and use th T&M in order to be at Stourbridge for the end of the month. 

Stoppage happened on a Saturday. I guess a crew will be out tomorrow to assess the work needed and an estimated timescale will be posted in a couple of days.

[matty40s]

Sileby Lock on the Soar has been like this for at least 7 years. The only reason you can get out of the lock going down is that the bottom gates leak even worse than the blown cill.