Refilling a pound

[Ex- Member]

We're moored on a short pound on the K&A some hire boaters have drained it using the lock.

 

What do we do, never been in this position before. Will it fill naturally through the night? or should we contact someone?

 

[adam1uk]

Run some water down from up above -- and if that's a short pound too, you might need to run it down from further up.

[b0atman]

It depends on length of pound above and being on the K&A whether water is pumped back up to a point above lock . If in doubt contact CaRT .

[nicknorman]

If you do run some water down, do it by opening top and bottom paddles with all gates closed, rather than opening one set of gates and the paddles at the other end.

[Ex- Member]

That's good, another boater is partly opening the paddles in the next lock. The next pound is really short though, the Barge INN one. Looks like we'll have to go up a few more locks.

[Paul G2]

If you do run some water down, do it by opening top and bottom paddles with all gates closed, rather than opening one set of gates and the paddles at the other end.

 

What's the difference? (real question)

[Ex- Member]

If you do run some water down, do it by opening top and bottom paddles with all gates closed, rather than opening one set of gates and the paddles at the other end.

 

No worries gates shut, half a paddle on one top and one bottom gate. it's recovered a foot already.

[Timleech]

 

What's the difference? (real question)

 

Less risk of rubbish in the bottom of the lock being washed up against the bottom cill.

Or indeed the top cill, though that must be a smaller risk.

 

Tim

Edited April 14, 2014 by Timleech

[adam1uk]

 

Less risk of rubbish in the bottom of the lock being washed up against the bottom cill.

Or indeed the top cill, though that must be a smaller risk.

 

Tim

 

Also, with the gates open the water could catch them and slam them shut -- which can be dangerous and cause damage.

[Timleech]

 

Also, with the gates open the water could catch them and slam them shut -- which can be dangerous and cause damage.

 

That too.

 

Tim

[nicknorman]

What's the difference? (real question)

Wot Tim says, plus no chance of gates starting to close on their own and then slamming hard with the well established flow from 2 x paddles. I have seen this happen and it certainly can't be good for the lock structure!

 

Ed: Wow, we all agree for once!

Edited April 14, 2014 by nicknorman

[Paul C]

Others have pretty much covered it, but run some water through the lock from the pound above by opening the top and bottom paddles of the lock. If the pound above is many times the size of the low pound, then its not so much of an issue but if its smaller/same size/only a bit bigger then run only just enough water down to refloat yourselves or allow passage across the pound if you're eg ascending or descending locks. This is especially true if you're ascending a flight of locks or other boats (including moored ones) are in the pound above. Its possible you may be in a big flight of locks and need to go 'up' many pounds and run a bunch of water down to fill yours. In theory running water through the lock of the highest pound would fill and overflow the weirs of all the others, but its wasteful of water so running through the locks to 'just enough' is recommended.

[Paul G2]

Thank you Tim, Adam and Nick!

 

[GUMPY]

to slow on the keyboard again.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Loddon

[Ex- Member]

All full already, not as big a drama as I thought, although on a long pound it would be a different storey. A lot more fish in the canals than I thought too LOL

[adam1uk]

All full already, not as big a drama as I thought, although on a long pound it would be a different storey. A lot more fish in the canals than I thought too LOL

 

Well, a long pound would have taken a lot longer to drain -- but of course that means you might not have settled onto the bottom until the middle of the night!

 

With short pounds, it's amazing how quickly they can be refilled. Last summer, we found a great long stretch of the Northampton Arm almost completely dry (a regular occurence, apparently), and had to run water down through numerous locks from the top. It didn't take half as long as I'd feared.

[DustyDave]

What do we do, never been in this position before.

 

Get the blacking out and start painting before somebody fills the pound again.

 

Dave

[Paul C]

The short pound in between locks 65 and 66 on the Trent and Mersey (first (or last) locks on the 'heartbreak hill' AKA Cheshire Locks section) is notorious for draining in the evening/night, and thus needing refilling each morning. We did it southbound, so it was the first locks for us, and were there before CRT turn up (they turn up every morning to refill it). The pound above it isn't that much bigger (about 4x as long) so its worth getting the right amount of water down.

 

Going downhill in locks with low pounds is much easier (well, less effort because you don't need to walk up to the next set of locks) to deal with.

[Pete of Ebor]

The short pound in between locks 65 and 66 on the Trent and Mersey (first (or last) locks on the 'heartbreak hill' AKA Cheshire Locks section) is notorious for draining in the evening/night, and thus needing refilling each morning. We did it southbound, so it was the first locks for us, and were there before CRT turn up (they turn up every morning to refill it). The pound above it isn't that much bigger (about 4x as long) so its worth getting the right amount of water down.

 

Going downhill in locks with low pounds is much easier (well, less effort because you don't need to walk up to the next set of locks) to deal with.

Wouldn't it just be easier (.. and cheaper in the long run..) to find and fix the leak than to sent two men each morning to refill the pound ?

Edited April 15, 2014 by Pete of Ebor

[Paul C]

Wouldn't it just be easier (.. and cheaper in the long run..) to find and fix the leak than to sent two men each morning to refill the pound ?

 

They don't know why(/where) it leaks.....

[Pete & Helen]

Word of warning to those that didn't see the thread about the boat that got caught on the cill going out of a lock with low water above the lock.

 

Always make sure there is plenty of clearance below your hull as you exit the lock, the rear end is normally lower than bow so if there isn't enough clearance there is a danger of getting part way out then grounding. If there are any leaks in the bottom gate the back end will just drop into the lock.

 

Link to the forum thread on this subject http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=61452&hl=huddersfield

 

As they said in Hill Street Blues "Lets be careful out there"

[Paul C]

Word of warning to those that didn't see the thread about the boat that got caught on the cill going out of a lock with low water above the lock.

 

Always make sure there is plenty of clearance below your hull as you exit the lock, the rear end is normally lower than bow so if there isn't enough clearance there is a danger of getting part way out then grounding. If there are any leaks in the bottom gate the back end will just drop into the lock.

 

Link to the forum thread on this subject http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=61452&hl=huddersfield

 

As they said in Hill Street Blues "Lets be careful out there"

 

As I said on the previous thread, an easy check is to look behind you and see the level of the water on the bottom gates of the lock. Normally you'll see its the normal level or it may be a few inches below (and you can see what was the normal water level in the bit above the current water level). If that looks more like a foot, then probably best to go ahead and send some water down. And worth knowing your draft and the navigable depth of the canal (most canals are built for 3 1/2 - 4 feet clearance over the cill, so a shallow draft boat will probably be okay with caution in a slightly lowered pound).