Crane brought in for temporary Radcliffe Lock repair

RATCLIFFE Lock on the Leicester Section was closed on the 18th of this month.

This was the result of boaters' complaints to the Canal & River Trust of its difficulty in operating.

The lock was on the winter list but the trust tells with the Soar often in flood during that time the work could not be undertaken, but a crane has now been brought in to help carry out repairs to the lock it telling "to ensure boaters can use the lock through the summer holidays", it adding:

Temporary repair

"To avoid closing the navigation for several weeks over the busy summer period, the full-scale lock refurbishment is now taking place in the autumn and a temporary repair has been carried out in the interim."

The trust has been carrying out regular inspections and listening and responding to reports from boaters. It recently discovered that the heel post, which enables the lock’s oak lock gate to pivot open and close smoothly, had split. This weakened the gate and made it hard for boaters to use. As a temporary repair, the charity has put in a ‘false heel’, which has enabled the lock to reopen for boats in time for the summer holidays, and ahead of the popular Shardlow Inland Port Festival.

Accessing the site is tricky, so the charity’s team brought in a crane boat to lift the balance beam—the heavy beam that forms the top of the lock gate—so they could carry out the repair, saving the need for draining the canal. The lock reopened on Thursday 25th July.

Have been struggling

Andrew Morris, Regional Construction Manager at Canal & River Trust, explained:

“We recognise that boaters have been struggling with Ratcliffe Lock for some time, and we were disappointed that the flooded river meant that we couldn’t go in and replace the gates as planned last winter. I am sorry that boaters have faced difficultly navigating through the lock but am pleased that this temporary repair will allow use throughout the summer and ahead of the Shardlow Festival in September.

“We always aim to minimise disruption for boaters so, instead of carrying out a long stoppage in the summer, which would have meant navigation would be restricted for several weeks during the busiest time of year, we have planned the full lock gate replacement at Ratcliffe Lock for the autumn, once the river is quieter. The lock gates have already been built in our specialist workshop and are ready to be installed.”