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Maximum size less than lock size - locations


magpie patrick

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Someone asked me a question  recently which momentarily had me stumped - I fairly quickly had some answers but almost certainly not a comprehensive list. The question? Where is the limiting factor on boat size, in particular beam, not goverened by lock size but by a another structure? I can think of three where the structure is a lot smaller than the lock - Droitwich Netherwich Tunnels, Ellesemere Port M56 crossing, and Newark Town bridge, but I guess there are more.... Any offers? In all three cases these are bridges but any narrows would have the same effect

 

Edited by magpie patrick
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For Beam: Blue Lias bridge  and Warwickshire Fly bridge on the Northern GU.

 For draught: The concreted invert in Harecastle tunnel.

 

BW had, and thus CRT ought to still have, a list of pinch points where a structure limits maximum boat dimensions.

 

Could do with a couple of new ones on the Northern Oxford either side of Dunchurch Pools.

 

N

  • Greenie 4
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A very obvious one is the GU Birmingham line where there is at least one bridge - below Shop lock - that is 12’ 6” (and dubious that it’s even that). There are others that a 14’ wide boat wouldn’t pass. The published maximum  dimension from Berkhamsted to Camp Hill is 12’ 6”.

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20 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

More seriously, the Ribble Link maximum beam is governed by the rotating tidal gate, not the locks.

And the maximum length is governed by the sea lock at Tarleton!

2 hours ago, AndrewIC said:

Croxton aqueduct 

And also Preston Brook, Saltersford and Barnton Tunnels and Dutton Stop Lock.

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Off CRT waters, the pinch point for the Middle Level is a sharp right angled bend. According to the Middle Level Commissioners "boats up to 70ft" can transit, but that would be really pushing it and for wide beams I assume it's less.

 

Locks either side have been extended to 80 and 90ft

 

 

Edited by enigmatic
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CRT's list suggests in addition to those already mentioned there's the Bridgwater and Taunton (bridges) and part of the Rochdale (one of the tunnels on the Nine, although I wouldn't fancy transiting some of the locks with a 14' boat anyway)

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/original/32433-waterway-dimensions.pdf

 

 

Plus of course, canals like the Ashby that don't have any locks :D 

 

 

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4 hours ago, David Mack said:

And also Preston Brook, Saltersford and Barnton Tunnels and Dutton Stop Lock.

Sort of. The question was about “not locks”, and if you can get through Dutton Stop then you can get through the tunnels. Barnton Tunnel would be the first not-a-lock pinch point if you had come up the lift.

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12 hours ago, David Mack said:

And the maximum length is governed by the sea lock at Tarleton!

 

One of the other Rufford Branch locks, surely. 

 

I've been through Tarleton lock on the level with all the gates open! Admittedly the time and tide need to be correct but it is possible fairly often.

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7 minutes ago, Ewan123 said:

If you catch it at the wrong time, Roydon Rail Bridge is very limiting for air draught on the Stort... it has definitely caught a few out.

 

2 minutes ago, Athy said:

Froghall tunnel on the Caldon Canal - though I believe it has been slightly deepened in recent years.

 

A bridge or tunnel is the limiting factor on air draft on most canals!

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10 hours ago, enigmatic said:

Off CRT waters, the pinch point for the Middle Level is a sharp right angled bend. According to the Middle Level Commissioners "boats up to 70ft" can transit, but that would be really pushing it and for wide beams I assume it's less.

 

Locks either side have been extended to 80 and 90ft

 

 

70ft nbs go through easy enough-the wide beam max dimension is a bit of a mystery and often asked though.

I know of several 60 ×10s that have squeezed through 👍

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11 hours ago, enigmatic said:

Off CRT waters, the pinch point for the Middle Level is a sharp right angled bend. According to the Middle Level Commissioners "boats up to 70ft" can transit, but that would be really pushing it and for wide beams I assume it's less.

 

Locks either side have been extended to 80 and 90ft

 

 

Is that the one I saw a few days ago on Cruising the Cut’s YouTube video? He was lent a boat and was cruising from Peterborough towards March.  The bend in question was at Whittlesey.

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A Severner belonging to a CWDF member, 71 feet long (the boat, not the member) got round Briggate bend in Whittlesey a few years ago. Marmont Priory and (I think) Ashline locks were formerly 49 feet long (which is why the longest Fox's hire boats used to be 48-footers) but, as noted above, have been extended. On EA waters there's still a 40-foot one at the end of the Little Ouse. But these are locks, so they don't count.

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