Audlem closed, again!

[johnmck]

We've had a serious incident this evening where Lock 10 Audlem flight is currently out of action due to what looks like vandalism of the tail gates. The shear pins at the top of the gates have been removed and when the lock was in use being emptied, the gates have dropped and are now inoperable, with the boat stuck in situ in the lock.

Our team could not do any remedial works to resolve this due to the lifting equipment needed.

A further update will be posted at 10:30 am on 31/07/2024 once fully accessed with a plan on restoring operation.

Well, that has somewhat scuppered our planned route. Let's hope for a speedy fix.

 

[nicknorman]

What are “shear pins”?

[johnmck]

42 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

What are “shear pins”?

My thought exactly!

[matty40s]

If they were shear pins, it wasnt vandalism, they have just sheared.

If they were lock collar anchor bolts, then they may have jumped out it someone has bashed the gate.

[Mike Tee]

Hope it's a reasonably quick fix but I don't think so - that's our plans scuppered again second time this year mid cruise!

[Stroudwater1]

Isn’t the only thing holding the top of the gate the wood if the gate and collar and metal bits that get rammed across the collar to keep it in place?
 

Sounds like possibly these metal strips have been knocked out or broken? If it’s the collar/  attachments then really it should all be relocated in a day. However it seems that grunt power is replaced by all sorts of lifting equipment that takes a while to muster and work out/do risk assessments etc. 

Shouldn’t take long surely either way? 

[hider]

I think this may refer to the wedge shaped steel lock plates that fix the ends of the collars. Many are loose and not bent up at the end meaning that they could be pulled out. 

[Stroudwater1]

7 minutes ago, hider said:

I think this may refer to the wedge shaped steel lock plates that fix the ends of the collars. Many are loose and not bent up at the end meaning that they could be pulled out. 

That’s them. It’s very easy to replace. Some got pulled out  on the two top gates as we descended the Rochdale 9 possibly before BW took it on. The top gates hung at 30 degrees out of line but all was replaced within 2 hours. I think it may have happened before… 

 

[Mike Tee]

It does say the gates have 'dropped' which infers they will need to be lifted and as they are the bottom gates will weigh a fair bit.

I feel for the boat trapped in the lock, can't be pleasant particularly if they have pets.

[David Mack]

47 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

It does say the gates have 'dropped' which infers they will need to be lifted and as they are the bottom gates will weigh a fair bit.

And the presence of an boat in the lock chamber will complicate the repair option, particularly if its a longer boat which can't be moved far from the bottom gates.

[Mike Tee]

Now said they hope to fix it in a couple of days

[Arthur Marshall]

1 hour ago, hider said:

I think this may refer to the wedge shaped steel lock plates that fix the ends of the collars. Many are loose and not bent up at the end meaning that they could be pulled out. 

That's it. All very tidily left by the lock gates, together with the collars that were removed. When the boat tried to open the gates, they tilted in, luckily getting jammed just before they hit the boat.

[hider]

They are saying days before they get the gate/s lifted.  Ordering lifting equipment.

Surely a winch will pull that gate back into the quoin? The heel looks to still be in the pot.

Odd that "vandals" would leave all the wedges and fastenings tidily by the gate, deeply doubt the vandalism reply.

[dogless]

Stoppage due to vandalism doesn't adversely effect C&RT key performance indicators though  😊

 

Rog

[Arthur Marshall]

10 minutes ago, hider said:

They are saying days before they get the gate/s lifted.  Ordering lifting equipment.

Surely a winch will pull that gate back into the quoin? The heel looks to still be in the pot.

Odd that "vandals" would leave all the wedges and fastenings tidily by the gate, deeply doubt the vandalism reply.

What would you call it if not vandalism? The lock was fine yesterday,boats going through up to quite late apparently.

I'm intrigued as to what you'd call it. Please elaborate.

 

[hider]

Failure due to incorrect fitting of parts and no attempt to lock the wedges in position. The fairies took them out because they were loose and rattling but found them too heavy to fly away with so they left them tidily next to the gate.

 

Probably some boater found them falling out and didn't know how to refit them.  More fools the lock crew for trying to open the gate when the collar was not in place.

[IanD]

7 minutes ago, hider said:

Failure due to incorrect fitting of parts and no attempt to lock the wedges in position. The fairies took them out because they were loose and rattling but found them too heavy to fly away with so they left them tidily next to the gate.

 

Probably some boater found them falling out and didn't know how to refit them.  More fools the lock crew for trying to open the gate when the collar was not in place.

From the CART notice:

 

"This incident was due to vandalism, where someone has removed both gate collars fixing, resulting in the gates becoming detached from the lock walls. If anyone has any information regarding this incident, please contact our North-West Customer Support team at 03030 404040."

 

I guess CART don't believe in fairies then... 😉 

[Arthur Marshall]

1 hour ago, hider said:

Failure due to incorrect fitting of parts and no attempt to lock the wedges in position. The fairies took them out because they were loose and rattling but found them too heavy to fly away with so they left them tidily next to the gate.

 

Probably some boater found them falling out and didn't know how to refit them.  More fools the lock crew for trying to open the gate when the collar was not in place.

Rubbish. Almost no wedges are locked in position. Some have a bit of string on them, some have a twist. The ones on the Macc have, if anything , a bit of wire twisted on. They weren't falling out, they were taken out and the collars removed. Not something you'd check at every lock, especially as another boat had just come out to let you in. I understand it was quite late in the evening, as someone told me someone had gone through at 10pm without incident. It's not dark then, but not that light either.

About fifty boats must have gone through that lock this weekend. This was totally deliberate.

I do congratulate you though for trying really hard to make this CRT's fault. Consistency is important.

[wandering snail]

CRT are asking for people with info to call them on their usual number. A police crime number would be good for those who prefer to report direct to them. This is serious stuff and the perpetrator needs catching.

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, hider said:

More fools the lock crew for trying to open the gate when the collar was not in place.

Do you always check the collar is in place before opening a lock gate?

[hider]

10 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Do you always check the collar is in place before opening a lock gate?

From habit I do look at a lock and the mechanisms to ensure it is workable, especially now that so many have faults that have not been repaired. True, missing collars may not be apparent but all the bits left on the floor near the gate may be a hint that all is not well to any boater.

[Arthur Marshall]

What I find intriguing is the blokes on the boat now stuck on the lock say that they went in as another came out. You would have thought that if the pins and collars had been removed, the gates would have collapsed when the lock was opened after being  emptied. 

Wouldn't this imply that the pins were removed when the lock was full, by the people on the boat exiting it?

[hider]

1 minute ago, Arthur Marshall said:

What I find intriguing is the blokes on the boat now stuck on the lock say that they went in as another came out. You would have thought that if the pins and collars had been removed, the gates would have collapsed when the lock was opened after being  emptied. 

Wouldn't this imply that the pins were removed when the lock was full, by the people on the boat exiting it?

Ooooo! Conspiracy theory!

I do wonder if that gate could be floated back in place, complicated by the boat stuck in an empty lock. How would you temporarily seal the bottom end of a lock beyond the gate?

[Arthur Marshall]

11 minutes ago, hider said:

Ooooo! Conspiracy theory!

I do wonder if that gate could be floated back in place, complicated by the boat stuck in an empty lock. How would you temporarily seal the bottom end of a lock beyond the gate?

Not really a conspiracy, probably just sheer luck it didn't fall off before.

To float the gates, you'd have to put a dam in place as high as the lock, which you can't, because then the gates wouldn't fit. Unless you built a lock extension, which is possibly overkill. I'd bring in a helicopter...

[dogless]

I understood it was the collar retaining pins/ bolts that had been removed.

 

Is that not so ?

 

Rog