chris potter wrote: > Do you not think that gates which fail so completely in such a short > time after restoration could not have been made to a high standard in > the first place? In the early seventies I well remeber a set of gates > on Heartbreak Hill bearing the date 1905 carved in one of the main > beams. This on one of the last narrow canals to have regular > commercial traffic. How many more gates are going to fail on the K& A > in the coming years? due to poor workmanship or materials? and will > other restored canals suffer the same fate?. CKP
I blame the wood. If you can't get decent wood, then make the gates of steel like VNF and Waterways Ireland* do. Look how long the steel composite gates are lasting on the GU and T&M. BW was recently refurbishing the wooden bits of the composite T&M gates. (dunno if this practise has stopped) Waterways Ireland* Most of the new composite WI gates have galvanised steel sections. As for the longevity of wooden gates, made with decent wood, it is believed that the bottom gates of Meelick/Victoria Lock on the Shannon still have the original French oak frames, which were fitted in 1843, when the Shannon was upgraded. http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/Stuffimages/MeelickLock.jpg -- Neil Arlidge Barge Maurice A / NB Earnest TNC http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/tour.html
