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Four more Oxford bridges to receive hydraulic mechanisms- £650,000. Thoughts?

Stroudwater1

By Stroudwater1
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MtB Veteran II

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Posted
Posted

I notice the headline says "Four more Oxford bridges..."

 

Which other Oxford bridges already have windlass-operated hydraulic gear to open them? I can think of the one in Banbury town centre and that's about it. There are two electrically operated but no others done with manual power. Or are there others I'm missing?

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dixi188 Contributor

dixi188

Posted
Posted

The 

Quote

The statement says, "The work will enhance the longevity of the structure by providing more controlled opening and closing, while also preserving their special heritage interest."

Some questions,

1. How much does a wooden lift bridge cost to replace? I would have thought £20,000 should do it, with a two or three blokes and a pile of timber.

2. If the bridges are to be left closed, how does this preserve the special heritage interest, since they are nornally left open?

3. Are they going to put large landings either side of the bridges to take account of the much increased foot traffic on the tow path with boaters getting off and on to operate the bridges?

4 How are we going to leave the bridge open for the boat behind? I imagine the bridges will have to be left in the closed position after passage.

My thoughts.

Dixi.

 

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Scholar Gypsy Veteran

Scholar Gypsy

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, MtB said:

I notice the headline says "Four more Oxford bridges..."

 

Which other Oxford bridges already have windlass-operated hydraulic gear to open them? I can think of the one in Banbury town centre and that's about it. There are two electrically operated but no others done with manual power. Or are there others I'm missing?

 

One just above Duke's lock.

 

Banbury, above the lock.

 

Heyford mill is electric, ditto Thrupp.

 

Thats all I can remember  from my recent trip...

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Grassman Rising Star

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Posted
Posted

This is surely going to create more potential stoppages. CRT are always issuing stoppage notices about failed lift bridges. At least with a manual bridge there is less likelihood of it developing a fault. And this malarkey of having to close one even if another boat is approaching is not just an inconvenience to everybody but it will also cause delays at busy times.

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Alan de Enfield Veteran II

Alan de Enfield

Posted
Posted (edited)
35 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

We don't generally close a bridge if another boat is approaching, we wait and let them through and then close the bridge.

 

If we were in a 'convoy', rather than one boat do all of the bridges, we'd work a system where the 1st boat opens the bridge using his key, then picks up the key from the 2nd boater, 1st boat continues.  2nd boater drops bridge and picks us 1st boaters key.

 

The other method was that the 1st boater opens bridge, lets all boats thru, closes the bridge and retrieves key, then joins the back of the convoy.

 

If there are several boats in the convoy it can mean you only have to do (maybe) one bridge a day.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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Posted
Posted
40 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

The other method was that the 1st boater opens bridge, lets all boats thru, closes the bridge and retrieves key, then joins the back of the convoy.

 

 

What key?

 

The proposal is for these bridges to be manually lifted with a windlass.

 

 

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MtB Veteran II

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Posted
Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, Grassman said:

 

That's good. I'd wrongly thought they were going to become electric operated.

 

From the CRT press release:

 

"The Trust has been granted Listed Building Consent for the installation of manual hydraulic winding mechanisms."

 

Permission is for manual operation, not electric.

 

It is however, hard to imagine how a windlass-operated hydraulic pump, some pipes and an actuator can cost £150,000 per bridge. I'd have thought even £15k per bridge would seem expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by MtB
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MtB Veteran II

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Posted
Posted
Just now, Phoenix_V said:

Really they are so short of money that they are fleecing boaters for licence fees - already the highest in the world - until the pips squeak.  They are threatening to close canals. Yet they can afford this

 Unbelievable.

 

What a load of taddle. Boating is WAY too cheap on CRT waters, and should be made far more expensive particularly for fat boats. 

 

 

 

 

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dixi188 Contributor

dixi188

Posted
Posted

If the bridges are not locked when down, then it is easy to leave them open and just carry on as we do now.

The problem is when someone on the path/track wants to cross. There is no way they can close the bridge.

I can see a situation where I open the bridge and leave it for the following boat to close but they leave it open as that is how they found it.

Dixi. 

 

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magnetman Veteran II

magnetman

Posted
Posted

Definitely agro there. 

 

I don't understand why they need to be made hydraulic. Surely if you are using a canal boat doing locks someone on the boat is fit enough to operate a manual bridge. 

 

Is this a ramblers thing or perhaps farmers asserting themselves with their rights of way? 

 

Elfin Safety? 

 

It seems crazy and pointless. 

 

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Dave123 Rising Star

Dave123

Posted
Posted
On 08/10/2023 at 08:24, magnetman said:

A bit awkward to do that as it would need some sort of inverted goalpost thing buried in the canal. May not be allowed if they are listed structures.

 

 

 

I reckon all the control parts will be on the same side as the rams.

 

 

 

 

Does this mean the end of the Banbury stick?

This is exactly what they have been doing, and why it costs so much. They have to put a dam in either side of the bridge, dig out a tough for a tube for the hydraulics to run under the canal, then the bridge can be opened from the towpath side by hydraulics.

 

I think someone at CRT H&S realised a bridge could fall onto a boat/boaters head and CRT might be liable?

On 12/10/2023 at 13:05, magnetman said:

Definitely agro there. 

 

I don't understand why they need to be made hydraulic. Surely if you are using a canal boat doing locks someone on the boat is fit enough to operate a manual bridge. 

 

Is this a ramblers thing or perhaps farmers asserting themselves with their rights of way? 

 

Elfin Safety? 

 

It seems crazy and pointless. 

 

Single handed boats (and any crewed boat encountering an already open bridge) go through without the bridge necessarily being secured in the open position (whether by a lock, pole or a crew member). Several bridges, Chisnell in particular, can blow shut in the wrong conditions, possibly helped by being heavy from recent rain?

 

As far as I know they are hydraulic windlass operated. From the scale of operation at Wolvercote 2 years ago I wouldn't be surprised if it was £150k per bridge😔🤦. They needed permanently running diesel generators powering pumps to shift the water around the two dams, which kept getting over topped by high water levels from rain etc

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ditchcrawler Veteran II

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Posted
Posted (edited)
5 hours ago, Dave123 said:

This is exactly what they have been doing, and why it costs so much. They have to put a dam in either side of the bridge, dig out a tough for a tube for the hydraulics to run under the canal, then the bridge can be opened from the towpath side by hydraulics.

 

Yet the ones on the North Stratford and Caldon are on the offside. The one on the Macc is towpath side with a goal post over the canal if I remember correctly 

Edited by ditchcrawler
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enigmatic Rising Star

enigmatic

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Dave123 said:

Several bridges, Chisnell in particular, can blow shut in the wrong conditions, possibly helped by being heavy from recent rain?

I remember last winter one was so heavy (following snow and rain) that it slammed shut under its own weight unless tied down

 

I would've thought some sort of catch that held the bridge in the open position would be a better solution than hydraulics for most of them

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magnetman Veteran II

magnetman

Posted
Posted

Hydraulic gear with long pipe runs can creep anyway. Just think of the old granny gear lock winding mechanisms. No good.

 

There will be problems here unless a system is devised to ensure that the bridges can not be left open after use.

 

 

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