Leaving Gates Open

[RickH]

I've always thought that once you've gone through a lock , unless a boat is coming the other way , you stop and close the gates . As a single hander for the most part I find this to b e a pain but I do it anyway . Which is why it annoys me that someone decided not only to leave both gates open on both locks at Semington but also leaves the paddles up on the bottom lock ! As it was both gates I'm assuming it was a widebeam .

 

Correct me if I'm wrong and I will happily leave all gates and paddles up behind me .

[Naughty Cal]

Unless stated otherwise we usually leave the gates open. We do however close the paddles.

 

Sometimes works in your favour sometimes doesn't.

[RickH]

Unless stated otherwise we usually leave the gates open. We do however close the paddles.

 

Sometimes works in your favour sometimes doesn't.

Not being critical of you here , but is that fair to the boater that turns up in the same direction as you who then has to close your gates ? Even more so if you leave both open in the case of a widebeam and the following boat is a narrowbeam which would only have to use one gate .

[Naughty Cal]

Not being critical of you here , but is that fair to the boater that turns up in the same direction as you who then has to close your gates ? Even more so if you leave both open in the case of a widebeam and the following boat is a narrowbeam which would only have to use one gate .

Is it fair if they are travelling in the opposite direction and the gates are open?

[Ex- Member]

Well we left the gates open at Semmington lock, but did not leave the paddles up, so someone must be going around winding up paddles.

Edited September 17, 2013 by Julynian

[Cloudinspector]

In my view you should always shut lock gates..

If for example the bottom gates are left open and the top gates leak badly a lot of water will be wasted

[RickH]

Well we left the gates open at Semmington, up did not leave the paddles up, so someone must be going around winding up paddles.

 

Well we left the gates open at Semmington, up did not leave the paddles up, so someone must be going around winding up paddles.

Bottom paddles were half up , I don't think someone is going around opening them for no reason .

[churchward]

I've always thought that once you've gone through a lock , unless a boat is coming the other way , you stop and close the gates . As a single hander for the most part I find this to b e a pain but I do it anyway . Which is why it annoys me that someone decided not only to leave both gates open on both locks at Semington but also leaves the paddles up on the bottom lock ! As it was both gates I'm assuming it was a widebeam .

 

Correct me if I'm wrong and I will happily leave all gates and paddles up behind me .

On most canals the advice and request from CRT is to close all gates and paddles. Unless you can see a boat coming I don't get the argument that it may help the next boat as it may also hinder the next boat in the same direction. I think it is just lazy not to close the gates and the reasons given for doing so an excuse.

 

Of course on some rivers the advice is different and certain gates are to be left open. For instance on the Nene it is requested by EA to empty the lock and leave the guillotine gate open/raised.

[RickH]

In my view you should always shut lock gates..

If for example the bottom gates are left open and the top gates leak badly a lot of water will be wasted

Valid point

[john6767]

On rivers you can see that the need to close the gates is not the same as on canals.

 

On the River Avon, ANT say to leave the exit gates open and all paddles closed. Does CRT say anything specific on their river navigations? For example on the Soar, which when we did it in the summer, everyone like us closed the gates as you would do on a canal.

[Ex- Member]

 

Bottom paddles were half up , I don't think someone is going around opening them for no reason .

 

Lynn's positive the paddles were down, she is usually very methodical, it was pissing down with rain though and a guest on board was helping out, so he might not have fully wound down. Ironically he injured himself on the opening lock where it fell shut even though geared.

 

I've just mentioned it to Lynn, she put the paddles down LOL I've been shouted at now LOL

Edited September 17, 2013 by Julynian

[RickH]

Is it fair if they are travelling in the opposite direction and the gates are open?

I'm sure you meant gates are closed . I think a valid argument for leaving them open is that you only need to stop once , whichever direction you're going in and I would happily do that . However the loss of water as previously mentioned is also valid .

 

Lynn's positive the paddles were down, she is usually very methodical, it was pissing down with rain though and a guest on board was helping out, so he might not have fully wound down. Ironically he injured himself on the opening lock where it fell shut even though geared.

 

I've just mentioned it to Lynn, she put the paddles down LOL I've been shouted at now LOL

I can hear her from here !

[mark99]

In my view you should always shut lock gates..

If for example the bottom gates are left open and the top gates leak badly a lot of water will be wasted

 

I was thinking the same.

 

Q) When going down a lock and closing lower gates, why do locks fill up? (sometimes nearly full) again?

 

Rhetorical A) Could it be that the mere presence of a build up of water for all to see (rather than fancy theoretical postulations) means closing both gates empirically demonstrates water saving in action?

 

If going down, next boater only has to top up. If going up, next boater empties only what would have been lost. Assuming lock fills to 1/2 way and even number of boats arrive going up as going down, each two boat movements saves 1/4 lock full.

 

I know someone will say the head of water acting on the upper gate reduces as the lock chamber fills up causing more leaks into lock chamber..... but by same argument that head of water building in the chamber builds up on the lower gates forcing them closer reducing lower gate leakage.

 

 

Or put another way - how does the build of of water in a lock prove that closed sets of upper and lower gates wastes water?

Edited September 17, 2013 by mark99

[bizzard]

If you wanna get a move on get a bloomin dustman to crew for you, they never close gates.

[GUMPY]

On a GU style lock if the water level is above weir a closed lock willl always fill up. Its how they were designed the bywash/weir is through the lock. So a half full lock on the GU or K&A proves nothing.

Edited September 17, 2013 by Loddon

[NB Lola]

The Boaters Guide states " Close the gates and lower the paddles before you move on, unless a boat coming from the opposite direction wants to use the lock." Page 13 going up and 14 going down. It's my view that the guide is definitive guidance and I have not seen any official guidance state otherwise.

 

I always follow the guidance as I believe it is only fair to leave the locks in an even position.

[lydfordcastle]

I've no doubt I'll be corrected if I'm wrong but aren't there a couple of locks on the K&A where official notices request boaters to refill the lock after use and leave top paddles open. I seem to recollect that the reason for this is because the occupants of the now privately owned lock cottages objected to the sound of falling water into an empty lock at night. Or did I dream it?

[mark99]

On a GU style lock if the water level is above weir a closed lock willl always fill up. Its how they were designed the bywash/weir is through the lock. So a half full lock on the GU or K&A proves nothing.

Having just done about 80 GU locks I don't remember them all having weirs and/or bywashes into the chamber? Was not looking that hard but sure I saw a few bywashes running behind locks straight to lower levels and/or side streams.

 

So even if they did as you say, closing gates still saves bywash water going straight to lower pound.

Edited September 17, 2013 by mark99

[homer2911]

Unless stated otherwise we usually leave the gates open. We do however close the paddles.

Sometimes works in your favour sometimes doesn't.

Lazy - no excuse for it whatsoever.

 

Infuriating to arrive at a lengthy flight at the end of a long day to find that some lazy person has left all the gates open. If they're all closed and I have to open them, that's just unfortunate, but at least the last person to use them has followed the published guidance.

 

Repeat - laziness, with no excuses!

[GUMPY]

Having just done about 80 GU locks I don't remember them all having weirs and/or bywashes into the chamber? Was not looking that hard but sure I saw a few bywashes running behind locks straight to lower levels and/or side streams.

 

So even if they did as you say, closing gates still saves bywash water going straight to lower pound.

You wouldnt notice them unless you knew what to look foot the slot just beneath the top ground paddle is the weir it runs through the culvert that the paddle uses.

As for external bywashes Ii can't think of one between Braunston and London except where the river is diverted round the lock.

 

ETA just remembered that there is one at Soulbury three to stop the pub flooding if you dump the middle lock when the lock and pound are full.

 

Some K&A locks were rebuilt with the bottom gate to high so the weir doesn't work and these have to be left empty.

Edited September 17, 2013 by Loddon

[Naughty Cal]

Lazy - no excuse for it whatsoever.

 

Infuriating to arrive at a lengthy flight at the end of a long day to find that some lazy person has left all the gates open. If they're all closed and I have to open them, that's just unfortunate, but at least the last person to use them has followed the published guidance.

 

Repeat - laziness, with no excuses!

Not really no.

 

There is little point shutting the gates where we are. There is more water cascading over the weirs than will ever be lost through leaky gates.

 

We often find locks against us with the gates open. It is hardly any extra work to close them and refill the lock as if the gates were shut and the lock against us anyway.

 

On the plus side at least some of the time the lock is in your favour and you drive straight in.

 

Nothing lazy about it you win some you lose some.

[ditchcrawler]

 

Bottom paddles were half up , I don't think someone is going around opening them for no reason .

Someone did on the Northampton Arm after we came up the other week

You wouldnt notice them unless you knew what to look for. The slot just beneath the top ground paddle is the weir it runs through the culvert that the paddle uses.

As for external bywashes Ii can't think of one between Hatton and London except where the river is diverted round the lock.

All the Stockton flight

[GUMPY]

All the Stockton flight

True ill rephase my distance: Braunston to London

Edited September 17, 2013 by Loddon

[mark99]

Someone did on the Northampton Arm after we came up the other week

All the Stockton flight

I think also some along the Colne valley - around Ricky/Denham where there is a vast array of little sidestreams. Widewater lock seemed to have a stream steeply running downhill past the lock cottage.

Edited September 17, 2013 by mark99

[GUMPY]

I think also some along the Colne valley - around Ricky/Denham where there is a vast array of little sidestreams. Widewater lock seemed to have a stream steeply running downhill past the lock cottage.

Strangely enough that's the river that is part of the canal

No need to close gates to preseve water there its a river section