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Lock 14, W&B 9/7/08-10/7/08

mayalld

By mayalld
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nine9feet Collaborator

nine9feet

Posted
Posted
Waterscape have just sent out a stoppage on this lock, due to a boat wedged at a precarious angle in the lock needing extraction by crane.

 

Any details?

 

Has somebody sat on the cill?

 

See here for the story.

 

John

nine9feet

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Boaty Jo Proficient

Boaty Jo

Posted
Posted

Similar happened to us on the Stratford.

We got stuck on a loose brick while the lock emptied and we ended up suspended three feet or so above the water. Fortunately for us the brick was in the centre of the boat (so didn't tip foreward or backward) and as it was a single lock we just rested against the other side of the lock till we re-filled it and floated once again. My wife was disconcerted to say the least.

That was the last time I went on ahead to set the next lock on that stretch!

It's not always operator error.

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bargeeboy Community Regular

bargeeboy

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Posted (edited)
sorry i am going against the grain on this somebody wasnt paying attention when the water was being released from the lock for this to happen

CORRECT !!

 

Called NEW LABOUR

 

 

no common sense!

 

Oh! Oh! I sense trouble ahead!

Edited by bargeeboy
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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

Posted
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sorry i am going against the grain on this somebody wasn't paying attention when the water was being released from the lock for this to happen

I'm in a half-way house on this Denis,

 

I can see where you are coming from, but I know from bitter experience that even if you think you are fully concentrating, that you can get caught out.

 

If you are correctly positioned in a lock you are emptying, with no risk of getting caught front or rear, and no fenders down, it's easy to assume that not a lot can go wrong.

 

Having been involved in an incident where the base plate of our boat got caught on a rubbing stone that had been built up with excessive layers of concrete, I can attest to the fact that it takes a few seconds to process the situation and realise you actually have no idea at all why something dramatic is happening.

 

Many paddles will not drop, and have to be forcibly wound down. Having recently witnessed just how fast some narrow locks do empty, I imagine there isn't a great deal of time between seeing the boat behaving strangely, and the point where the back goes under, and it's not possible to save it.

 

Possibly these people were not paying enough attention, but I wouldn't rush to judge them, particularly if some hidden irregularity in the lock has caused it, (which looks the most likely explanation to me).

 

As an aside, am I the only one amazed that BW have left it hung there, waterless below, and with nothing to prevent it falling. If whatever it's 15 or so tons is resting on gives way, it's going to make one hell of a bang.

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Lingy Contributor

Lingy

Posted
Posted
.

 

As an aside, am I the only one amazed that BW have left it hung there, waterless below, and with nothing to prevent it falling. If whatever it's 15 or so tons is resting on gives way, it's going to make one hell of a bang.

 

It looks like its resting on the cill with the bow end sticking up to me ?!?

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mayalld Veteran II

mayalld

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It looks like its resting on the cill with the bow end sticking up to me ?!?

 

Yes, the first picture looks that way, but click onto the other pictures.

 

the boat is going downhill, and is wedged about 6 feet back from the bow.

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

Posted
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Given how far forward it is, it seems unlikely the back end is on the top gate cill, I'd have thought.

 

If it were, they could probably re-float it. I think the back end is probably a lot further down than that.

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Greybeard Proficient

Greybeard

Posted
Posted

Hi

 

These photos have really confused me (not difficult)

 

It looks like the lock gate is open at the bow end judging by the position of the gate lever and the boat is resting against it.

 

I'm fairly new to a lot of this and I can't see how it happened.

 

BW dewatered some of the neighbouring pound but that doesn't explain the position of the gate.

 

Any suggestions?

 

I don't understand the mechanics of how it happened ie gate open with boat resting on it and water gone.

 

Don't want to make the same mistake!

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Liam Veteran II

LiamDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Well the boat was heading downhill...

 

Looks like the arse end of the boat is sat on the bottom in the mud, but the boat is twisted, leaning down on the right so I am guessing that the base plate on the left, and the rubbing strakes on the bow are jamming the boat in the position that it is in.

 

I obviously can't say how the boat got to be in that position as I wasn't there and haven't seen it but I am guessing that the boat's bows got caught up on the protruding brickwork, causing it to be caught up, and when the water went down it tipped at an angle causing water to enter the back of the boat, flooding it.

 

I can't really tell by the picture but it looks as though the boat is blocking the gate from being shut which means the gate would of been open already which doesn't make sense, unless there's just enough room for it to be swung.

 

It'll be interesting to see how they free it and get it floating again.

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

Posted
Posted

I don't think the boat is in any way hung on any part of the bottom gates or their balance beams.

 

Clearly they would have been shut, and the paddles drawn, as the boat got into distress.

 

I think the boat has hung up on some irregularity on the lock lining, near the front end, as the lock was emptying.

The lower paddles were not wound down in time to stop the back end of the boat going under water, at which point it would quickly have settled into the lock at the back end.

 

i don't know boat length, but my bet is the back is well clear of the upper gate's cill - it appears to have been well forward.

 

I think to get the water out of the boat and engine BW have de-watered the next pound, and with no water in the pound or lock, the gates have been left open, to ensure anything leaking through from above doesn't refill the lock, and hence the back of the boat.

 

If my explanation is correct, the only "crime" the boaters have committed is to not manage to stop the lock continuing to empty, before the boat sank.

 

I know from experience it's quite hard to think clearly when something so unexpected happens.

 

The person on the boat was probably not able to get off to help, so it will depend what the person on shore tried to do. Perhaps they decided the boat was caught, and to try and free it, rather than to concentrate on stopping the lock emptying ?

 

But I don't know the canal, the lock, or the boat, so freely admit I'm only guessing.

 

If anyone has actually taken a look, it would be good to know what's actually resting on where.

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Greybeard Proficient

Greybeard

Posted
Posted

That's the bit that's confusing me about the gate.

 

It's difficult to see if there's room to open it but it really looks like the boat's actually on it, which, like you say, doesn't make sense.

 

It'll go with a hell of a bang if it comes loose and drops!

 

Wouldn't want the slingers job either.

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

Posted
Posted
It's difficult to see if there's room to open it but it really looks like the boat's actually on it,

I can see why you might think that, but I've blown it up a bit, and I think the whole boat is short of the gates, with enough room for them to swing freely.

 

If it isn't I don't think what is pictured is actually possible. :lol:

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alan_fincher Veteran II

alan_fincher

Posted
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Much bigger/better pictures in this report though.

 

It confirms front of boat is within confines of the lock, and away from the bottom gates.

 

Also that it's close enough to the bottom gates that rear of boat must be well clear of the the top cill.

 

I still wonder what's actually holding the front up, and how dramatic it would be if the "projecting bit of brickwork" or whatever decided to give way.

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denboy Experienced

denboy

Posted
Posted

this is how I think it may have happened might be wrong i wasn`t there so :lol:

1 boat enters lock gates close

2 loockie wacks paddles up and leaves the lock to set next lock

3 boat gets hung up

4 nobody at the lock to drop the paddles steerer hasnt got a windlass handy to drop them

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