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Weston Marsh Lock, Weaver Navigation closed UFN


frangar

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That really doesn't look too bad. If the damage is confined to the top beam then maybe it can be repaired in situ. I assume CaRT have had a really good look and have found that there is more damage lower down, or maybe they just fancy a new gate with the Danny insurance providing the finance. I suppose the risk would be doing a repair now and then finding trouble in a year or two after the claim is settled.

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1 hour ago, dmr said:

That really doesn't look too bad. If the damage is confined to the top beam then maybe it can be repaired in situ. I assume CaRT have had a really good look and have found that there is more damage lower down, or maybe they just fancy a new gate with the Danny insurance providing the finance. I suppose the risk would be doing a repair now and then finding trouble in a year or two after the claim is settled.

The top beam is like a broken match stick about 4 foot from the hinge post. 

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2 hours ago, rgreg said:

Here are a few shots of the damaged gate. You can see how bowed it is; the other looks ok.

 

 

 

Was that you there today when we came into the lock taking photos. Yours are the only other ones I have seen rgreg

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4 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

The top beam is like a broken match stick about 4 foot from the hinge post. 

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Was that you there today when we came into the lock taking photos. Yours are the only other ones I have seen rgreg

Indeed it was sir, good to meet you! Here's a close up from above, it doesn't look good.

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Unfortunately I am told two new gates are needed. They will be built at C&RT workshop at Stanley Ferry workshop who have been to measure up, but they are short of two long pieces of timber ( greenheart?), none of that length available in UK and they will have to be ordered from abroad before the build can begin. At least it should be at no cost to C&RT meagre budget other than some loss of earnings from river licences.

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Sure I have seen much smaller gates with a similar failure repaired with steel plates on either side, but these are big lock gates and there is no reason to do a cheap and nasty repair if its an insurance job. My old and rough VW camper had a little accident which was settled by insurance and they insisted on fitting a complete new front panel and spraying it even though the rest of the van was brush painted.

 

Its very good news that CaRT are going to build the gates in house rather than outsourcing the job to Holland. It does appear that even smaller bits of oak are often sourced from overseas so its no surprise that these can't be found in the UK.  I think maybe the Danny should compromise a bit of its history and fit engine controls that can be directly operated from the bridge.

 

We've got about ten months left on our "certificate of seaworthiness" so hope the gates are done before that runs out.

 

...............Dave

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13 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

What surprised me is these are the first photos I have seen of the damage, its like no one is mentioning it, unlike Middlewich with photos and the L&L with photos.

I think more like no one is that interested. The Weaver is a bit of a backwater (but very busy right now, I suspect the Middlewich breach is a factor) and Marsh lock is a backwater within a backwater. The first time I saw it I assumed it was derelict so I reckon 99% boaters have no direct interest in it. I think a lock keeper said that since the breach it has been used quite heavily, like several boats each week or even a boat most days!

 

Its very reassuring that CaRT have got on with sorting it out, I did fear that they might have delayed for several months to gage the level of opposition to closing it.

 

Only real problem with the Weaver is that there is almost no shade. Think its back up the lift again tomoro to find a tree or two to hide under.

 

................Dave

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40 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Only real problem with the Weaver is that there is almost no shade. Think its back up the lift again tomoro to find a tree or two to hide under.

 

................Dave

Found a bit yesterday on the moorings before Sutton Bridge, but it felt more of a breeze down here than on the canal

 

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1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

What surprised me is these are the first photos I have seen of the damage, its like no one is mentioning it, unlike Middlewich with photos and the L&L with photos.

...and then two of us post photos on the same day! 

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41 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Found a bit yesterday on the moorings before Sutton Bridge, but it felt more of a breeze down here than on the canal

 

Very end mooring below Hunts lock shades the last ten feet of the boat for most of the day! I might go up to the T&M and go through those tunnels very slowly ?

 

...............Dave

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8 hours ago, AndrewIC said:

What are the handles lower left that look suspiciously like tram speed controls?

The gates and paddles are powered, those will be the motor controllers

 

Richard

 

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8 hours ago, AndrewIC said:

What are the handles lower left that look suspiciously like tram speed controls?

They are indeed repurposed tram controllers apparently. It’s really interesting watching it all operate! 

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5 minutes ago, frangar said:

They are indeed repurposed tram controllers apparently. It’s really interesting watching it all operate! 

Just being picky, why would they be repurposed tram controllers, rather than new controllers? That's state of the art technology for the time available new off the shelf

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6 minutes ago, RLWP said:

Just being picky, why would they be repurposed tram controllers, rather than new controllers? That's state of the art technology for the time available new off the shelf

I meant repurposed as in not being used for controlling a tram!

 

Indeed I suspect they were new when installed. You can imagine someone sitting in the Weaver Navigation office and thinking “I know just the thing to control those motors!” They seem to have survived rather well which is testimony to how well things used to be made. 

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31 minutes ago, frangar said:

You can imagine someone sitting in the Weaver Navigation office and thinking “I know just the thing to control those motors!”

 

Now you've made me wonder who designed the locks on the Weaver navigation, and who supplied the motors and control gear

 

Richard

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Everything about the Weaver is well engineered and interesting, there are "re purposed" railway semaphore signals controlling boat movement at the locks.

At least some gates are opened via a huge quadrant, not a foothold but a giant "quarter of a gear wheel". One at Vale Royal has broken and it appears to have taken well over a year to find a foundry who can make a new one. There is also an interesting boat lift.?

 

We were delayed at Saltersford Lock by engineering work on a gate hinge mechanism so I got to have a good look, its all proper engineering.

 

..............Dave

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The Anderton Lift also had tram-type controllers in its electrically operated incarnation: https://goo.gl/images/XZyyMA

 

When Vale Royal large lock was pressed back into service a few years back, following the collapse of the bullnose between small lock and sluice, the gates were indeed operated by water turbines. I assume they still are - is the large lock still the one in use, or have they reverted to the small one?

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9 hours ago, frangar said:

They are indeed repurposed tram controllers apparently. It’s really interesting watching it all operate! 

Last time I watched the lock operate they used turfors to operate the seaward gates

 

3 hours ago, AndrewIC said:

The Anderton Lift also had tram-type controllers in its electrically operated incarnation: https://goo.gl/images/XZyyMA

 

When Vale Royal large lock was pressed back into service a few years back, following the collapse of the bullnose between small lock and sluice, the gates were indeed operated by water turbines. I assume they still are - is the large lock still the one in use, or have they reverted to the small one?

Small, I was told today that he big one is inoperable due to the bottom gates being sealed to stop leaks 

 

3 hours ago, AndrewIC said:

The Anderton Lift also had tram-type controllers in its electrically operated incarnation: https://goo.gl/images/XZyyMA

 

Had a look round there earlier this year

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On 03/07/2018 at 23:30, AndrewIC said:

What are the handles lower left that look suspiciously like tram speed controls?

This was the name plate on the rotary switches, some of them still turn and click in 4 positions The second photo is the name plate on the switch boxes 

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