Anderton Lift To Close For A Year

[Tim Lewis]

Just watched an IWA webinar Q & A session with Richard Parry and the CRT North West Region Director when it was confirmed that, subject to funding, the Anderton Boat lift will be shut for refurbishment in 2022 for  a year to 18 months so get your travel plans in to visit the Weaver in 2021!

[MoominPapa]

8 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

Just watched an IWA webinar Q & A session with Richard Parry and the CRT North West Region Director when it was confirmed that, subject to funding, the Anderton Boat lift will be shut for refurbishment in 2022 for  a year to 18 months so get your travel plans in to visit the Weaver in 2021!

That sounds like a crazy long stoppage. Can't they do one caisson at a time? Is it too much to hope that they'll organise easy passages via the ship canal as an alternative.

 

MP.

 

[Tonka]

4 minutes ago, MoominPapa said:

That sounds like a crazy long stoppage. Can't they do one caisson at a time? Is it too much to hope that they'll organise easy passages via the ship canal as an alternative.

 

MP.

 

Didn't they restore it back to work the way it was designed so got rid of individual caissons working

[MoominPapa]

Just now, Tonka said:

Didn't they restore it back to work the way it was designed so got rid of individual caissons working

No. It's possible to raise and lower a single caisson. When not in use, both caissons are left at the bottom and one side goes up on the first trip of the day. My understanding is that there's not enough oil in the hydraulic system to raise both caissons simultaneously, but you can certainly make one go up and down whilst leaving the other one at the bottom.

 

MP.

[magpie patrick]

2 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Didn't they restore it back to work the way it was designed so got rid of individual caissons working

er, yes, and no

 

4 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Didn't they restore it back to work the way it was designed 

Yes

 

4 minutes ago, Tonka said:

so got rid of individual caissons working

 

No

 

Normally the caissons counterbalance but they can be worked individually.

 

The design isn't quite the original in other regards - uses oil rather than river water for the hydraulic ram! 

[rgreg]

Here's the link to the full IWA webinar if anyone is interested:

 

[AndrewIC]

And if funding is not forthcoming?

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, AndrewIC said:

And if funding is not forthcoming?

It closes.

Ps

Whoever coined the term 'webinar' should be taken out and shot.

[Arthur Marshall]

I always thought we'd lose the Weaver. Getting rid of the full time lockies, then all the trouble with the locks, then free access to the lift. All too expensive and not enough traffic.

Buying a boat was the best decision I ever made, and I blame it for the fact that I'm still more or less sane. The lsst fifty years of the system have been terrific both for those who live on it and those who play on it, but I suspect it'll be largely left to the fishermen in another ten.

[GUMPY]

19 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I always thought we'd lose the Weaver. Getting rid of the full time lockies, then all the trouble with the locks, then free access to the lift. All too expensive and not enough traffic.

Buying a boat was the best decision I ever made, and I blame it for the fact that I'm still more or less sane. The lsst fifty years of the system have been terrific both for those who live on it and those who play on it, but I suspect it'll be largely left to the fishermen in another ten.

don't forget the cyclists, walkers and those doing yoga

[Athy]

9 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

Whoever coined the term 'webinar' should be taken out and shot.

I'm not always a fan of newly-introduced words, but this one does the job efficiently: a seminar on the web. A quite clever portmanteau word, I'd say, so while I wouldn't give its inventor a medal, I wouldn't shoot him either.

   The alternative "seminet" just never caught on.

[magpie patrick]

11 hours ago, Tim Lewis said:

when it was confirmed that, subject to funding, the Anderton Boat lift will be shut for refurbishment in 2022 

I haven't watched the webinar so I'll ask instead

 

Could someone clarify - is the closure subject to funding or is it the reopening after closure? Will the lift carry on "unrefurbished" or will it close?

[Higgs]

22 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

I haven't watched the webinar so I'll ask instead

 

Could someone clarify - is the closure subject to funding or is it the reopening after closure? Will the lift carry on "unrefurbished" or will it close?

 

My impression would be - it's in need of a service, and if the necessary funds can be found, the closure is planned for that period. Or - it's in need of a jolly good service, and if nothing is done, there's no guarantee it can remain functional. 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2020 by Higgs

[doratheexplorer]

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I always thought we'd lose the Weaver. Getting rid of the full time lockies, then all the trouble with the locks, then free access to the lift. All too expensive and not enough traffic.

Buying a boat was the best decision I ever made, and I blame it for the fact that I'm still more or less sane. The lsst fifty years of the system have been terrific both for those who live on it and those who play on it, but I suspect it'll be largely left to the fishermen in another ten.

If that were likely they wouldn't be planning to spend a year repairing the lift.  Or am I crediting CRT with joined up forward planning?

[Hudds Lad]

12 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

If that were likely they wouldn't be planning to spend a year repairing the lift.  Or am I crediting CRT with joined up forward planning?

a cynical person might think it was closure by way of the side door.

you plan a maintenance shutdown and close it, first assessment reveals problem was bigger than first thought, it will now cost X more millions and we just don’t have the money, stays disabled and closed as a lift but open as a museum piece for the public to look at with nice videos of how it used to work. job done.

[rgreg]

47 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

I haven't watched the webinar so I'll ask instead

 

Could someone clarify - is the closure subject to funding or is it the reopening after closure? Will the lift carry on "unrefurbished" or will it close?

Q - Anderton Lift. There are planned limited work this winter. However, there is speculation that major work is/will be needed soon which could necessitate closure of the Lift for a year. Can you clarify the situation?
A - Yes, some major works are needed over the next few years; it has been nearly twenty years since Anderson Lift was restored and re-opened and much of the structure and the systems need refurbishment or replacement. We are looking at how best to undertake this work to minimise disruption but there will have to be significant closures. When we have more detailed plans we’ll let people know. We also need to raise funds for the work as it will involve exceptional costs of potentially circa £5m.

[Higgs]

 

This is going to mean donations. Any hint of a scheme?

 

 

[doratheexplorer]

13 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

a cynical person might think it was closure by way of the side door.

you plan a maintenance shutdown and close it, first assessment reveals problem was bigger than first thought, it will now cost X more millions and we just don’t have the money, stays disabled and closed as a lift but open as a museum piece for the public to look at with nice videos of how it used to work. job done.

I don't think CRT are that clever.

[magpie patrick]

30 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

a cynical person might think it was closure by way of the side door.

you plan a maintenance shutdown and close it, first assessment reveals problem was bigger than first thought, it will now cost X more millions and we just don’t have the money, stays disabled and closed as a lift but open as a museum piece for the public to look at with nice videos of how it used to work. job done.

You don't need to be cynical - that's what happened last time. 

[dmr]

I love the Weaver, we spent half the winter on it a couple of years ago, and it does contain a number of big expensive structures. Anderton lift is a big and iconic part of the waterways and I suspect CRTwould not be brave enough to abandon it.

If it closes for a year half of me things this forum plus NABO etc should organise monthly cruises up the MSC just to keep plenty of boats using the Weaver.

My cynical side fears that CRT would then say "MSC works fine, we don't really need a working Anderton, its only boaters who use it and the visiting cyclists don't care whether it works or not.

 

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

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Athy said:

I'm not always a fan of newly-introduced words, but this one does the job efficiently: a seminar on the web. A quite clever portmanteau word, I'd say, so while I wouldn't give its inventor a medal, I wouldn't shoot him either.

   The alternative "seminet" just never caught on.

We used to just call them a 'video conference'. No new,  made up, corporate nonsense.

[Athy]

3 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

We used to just call them a 'video conference'. No new,  made up, corporate nonsense.

I doubt that the expression "video conference" dates back very many years either. There's room for both.

[Hudds Lad]

1 minute ago, Athy said:

I doubt that the expression "video conference" dates back very many years either. There's room for both.

 

 

both rubbish bits of business jargon to make something seem more exciting/impressive than it actually is

 

it's a video call  

 

[Guest]

Just now, Athy said:

I doubt that the expression "video conference" dates back very many years either. There's room for both.

Not 'made up' words though.

 

This being the point. Too much corporate B S purveying through organisations and charities that shouldn't be trying to emulate the likes of HSBC or Google. Just focus on their core functions.

[Athy]

2 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

 

 

both rubbish bits of business jargon to make something seem more exciting/impressive than it actually is

 

it's a video call  

 

Would that not be just one person speaking to one other person? The "conference" part shows that several people are involved.