Temporary Balance Beams

[David Mack]

Seen a few "ladder' type balance beams fitted in place of the oak originals today, with several on the Marsworth flight. They are made of treated softwood. The cut end of the original beam looks pretty sound, so why have these been fitted?

Not sure how long they will last. They bend rather alarmingly when someone is pushing to open a gate that hasn't quite made a level!

[Tony Brooks]

I don't see how that can balance the gate unless they put a bottom in and fill some sections with concrete. Looks like cost-cutting to me, or the need for a quick job.

[Momac]

Looks like a temporary fix

[dmr]

Ive seen this done, probably on the Oxford?, as a short term fix to keep the navigation open during the "boating season" for a (hopefully) better fix later.  and yes, very very bendy.

[ditchcrawler]

Its that or close the lock

[PaulJ]

5 minutes ago, dmr said:

Ive seen this done, probably on the Oxford?, as a short term fix to keep the navigation open during the "boating season" for a (hopefully) better fix later.  and yes, very very bendy.

The one Im thinking of on the Oxford did have a sign on it requesting people to wait until the lock was actually empty before trying to open the gate. Dont know how long the sign lasted..

[matty40s]

25 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Seen a few "ladder' type balance beams fitted in place of the oak originals today, with several on the Marsworth flight. They are made of treated softwood. The cut end of the original beam looks pretty sound, so why have these been fitted?

Not sure how long they will last. They bend rather alarmingly when someone is pushing to open a gate that hasn't quite made a level!

It's so that they can use up more of the Aldi Special Buy angle brackets they have semi permanently fixed the Buckby flight with.

[MtB]

 It would make better structural sense if the whole extension were rotated through 90 degrees and the two long lengths of timber fixed to the top and bottom of the old balance beam stump, rather than to the sides as in the photo.

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by MtB

[David Schweizer]

5 minutes ago, MtB said:

 It would make better structural sense if the whole extension were rotated through 90 degrees and the two long lengths of timber fixed to the top and bottom of the old balance beam stump, rather than to the sides as in the photo.

 

 

 

 I was going to suggest that, but you beat me to it. To make it even stronger, and avoid the planks moving laterally, would be to add a top and bottom plank to the existinhg vertical boards.

Edited May 17, 2023 by David Schweizer

[alan_fincher]

3 minutes ago, MtB said:

 It would make better structural sense if the whole extension were rotated through 90 degrees and the two long lengths of timber fixed to the top and bottom of the old balance beam stump, rather than to the sides as in the photo.

 

My initial thought as well.

 

However I reckon if the upper surface was an unsupported plank that soe idiot would no doubt try walking the length of it.

Or maybe a large group of local "yoof" would try sitting on it at the same time.

[ditchcrawler]

2 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

 

My initial thought as well.

 

However I reckon if the upper surface was an unsupported plank that soe idiot would no doubt try walking the length of it.

Or maybe a large group of local "yoof" would try sitting on it at the same time.

Or use it as a spring board

 

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, alan_fincher said:

Or maybe a large group of local "yoof" would try sitting on it at the same time.

We encountered some local "yoof" in Berkhamstead cooking on one of those foil single-use barbecues on the balance beam (although it was a proper oak one).

[Bee]

Wonder why they got called balance beams? Even big heavy ones would not do much to balance the weight of a gate and most locks I can think of that are operated by hydraulic rams or some sort of machine don't have anything like them. Think I might start calling them 'Lever beams' instead and make up a fictitious source from a fictitious canal engineer just to start a never ending argument among canal pedants.

[MtB]

8 minutes ago, David Mack said:

We encountered some local "yoof" in Berkhamstead cooking on one of those foil single-use barbecues on the balance beam (although it was a proper oak one).

 

At least they didn't have it inside a tent, which is the main way in which the Darwin Effect gets them.

 

 

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, Bee said:

Wonder why they got called balance beams? Even big heavy ones would not do much to balance the weight of a gate and most locks I can think of that are operated by hydraulic rams or some sort of machine don't have anything like them. Think I might start calling them 'Lever beams' instead and make up a fictitious source from a fictitious canal engineer just to start a never ending argument among canal pedants.

 

I've often mused about the same. Given wood floats (even oak I suspect), and and half the gate is under water, there may well be no net weight needing 'balancing'. I also find myself musing over whether there is any buoyancy effect if only one side of a wooden gate is submerged.  

Edited May 17, 2023 by MtB

[enigmatic]

3 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Or use it as a spring board

 

Possibly an unintended springboard....

 

[Pluto]

On 17/05/2023 at 19:15, Bee said:

Wonder why they got called balance beams? Even big heavy ones would not do much to balance the weight of a gate and most locks I can think of that are operated by hydraulic rams or some sort of machine don't have anything like them. Think I might start calling them 'Lever beams' instead and make up a fictitious source from a fictitious canal engineer just to start a never ending argument among canal pedants.

No need for that, they have been called 'levers' for over 200 years. They are not used on many European waterways, and often a shaft from the bank fixed to the mitre post sufficed. Some old photos/drawings suggest that the 'outer' end oif beams was left as a trunk without being shaped to increase the balancing effect, though it was not sufficient for full balancing. Some engineers inclined the mitre post to cause automatic closing of gates.