On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 15:03:51 +0100, Bruce Napier <[email protected]> wrote:
>But a lock gate should give around 35 - 40 years service; sixteen >years is nothing. AIUI from my recent cruising companion who'd been >involved with the K&A for a long time, the gates as originally fitted >were cheap and cheerful in order to get the job done within budget, >and now BW are paying the price. Indeed. AIUI many gates on the French Freycinet canals are over 100 years old. They are metal. Easier (and, I believe, cheaper) to build than wooden ones, and more environmentally friendly. The lockkeepers (used to, when there were lockkeepers) report you to VNF if your vessel even touches a gate. (*Everyone* uses ropes in French locks.) The VNF then brought out the guillotine. BW has said that it doesn't use metal gates because they get bent if boats hit them, and the gates then leak badly. Possibly a Catch-22 there? Adrian Adrian Stott Tel. UK (0)7956-299966
