200 year old lock on the River Witham replacement
WORKS ‘EXECUTED’ AT LINCOLN’S GUILLOTINE LOCK
British Waterways has now begun essential engineering works in Lincoln city centre to ensure that a 200 year old lock on the River Witham can continue to be enjoyed by the thousands of people that visit every year. Stamp End Lock will undergo replacement of its oak bottom gates between 9th and 20th November, as part of British Waterways’ annual stoppage programme.
Stamp End is a busy lock in the heart of the city centre, with hundreds of boaters passing through every year. The structure is unique in the East Midlands, as it has the only guillotine gates in the area, so-called because the gates are hydraulically opened by lifting them vertically up like the action of a guillotine. The lock, which is half a mile from Lincoln’s Castle and Cathedral, was originally built with more traditional oak gates and balance beams at either end in late 18th century. It was rebuilt in 1826 when it was used as a toll collection point and the unusual guillotine style top gate was installed in 1950.
Lock gates are generally replaced every 25 years by British Waterways due to wear and tear. During the works at Lincoln, the four metre deep lock chamber will be completely drained to allow staff to remove the existing gates, weighing over three tonnes. It will also involve closing the access road over the weekend to enable the crane and new lock gates to be transported and works to be completed safely.
Each year as part of it’s winter engineering programme, British Waterways carries out maintenance works to hundreds of structures including lock gates, bridges and aqueducts
across the network of 2,200 miles of canals and rivers in the UK. By the start of the new boating season in Spring, over £200,000 will have been spent in the East Midlands maintenance programme. Because maintenance projects often require sections of canal or river to be closed, the majority of British Waterways’ engineering works take place over the winter to ensure disruption to visitors such as boaters, anglers, cyclists and walkers is kept to a minimum.
Sean McGinley, East Midlands Waterways Manager comments; ‘Waterways are an important part of the nation’s built and natural heritage and it’s our job to ensure that they can be enjoyed for many years to come. Maintenance works carried out this winter will not only benefit boaters and other visitors but they will also help to preserve the historic waterside structures which make the region’s waterways so interesting’.
Maintenance works across the region will continue throughout the winter with the waterways fully re-opened for users by the end of March 2010. Visitors can keep up-to-date with the latest stoppage information online by visiting British Waterways’ leisure website: www.waterscape.com.
