A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats , ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways . The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock , a boat lift , or on a canal inclined plane , it is the chamber itself (usually then called a caisson ) that rises and falls.
71-507: Richmond Lock and Footbridge is a lock , rising and falling low-tide barrage integrating controlled sluices and pair of pedestrian bridges on the River Thames in southwest London , England, and is a Grade II* listed structure . It is the furthest downstream of the forty-five Thames locks and the only one owned and operated by the Port of London Authority . It was opened in 1894 and
142-474: A canal to cross land that is not level. Later canals used more and larger locks to allow a more direct route to be taken. A pound lock is most commonly used on canals and rivers today. A pound lock has a chamber with gates at both ends that control the level of water in the pound. In contrast, an earlier design with a single gate was known as a flash lock . Pound locks were first used in China during
213-528: A broad canal for more than one boat to be in a staircase at the same time, but managing this without waste of water requires expertise. On English canals, a staircase of more than two chambers is usually staffed: the lockkeepers at Bingley (looking after both the "5-rise" and the "3-rise") ensure that there are no untoward events and that boats are moved through as speedily and efficiently as possible. Such expertise permits miracles of boat balletics: boats travelling in opposite directions can pass each other halfway up
284-426: A flight of locks is simply a series of locks in close-enough proximity to be identified as a single group. For many reasons, a flight of locks is preferable to the same number of locks spread more widely: crews are put ashore and picked up once, rather than multiple times; transition involves a concentrated burst of effort, rather than a continually interrupted journey; a lock keeper may be stationed to help crews through
355-480: A lock is simple. For instance, if a boat travelling downstream finds the lock already full of water: If the lock were empty, the boat would have had to wait 5 to 10 minutes while the lock was filled. For a boat travelling upstream, the process is reversed; the boat enters the empty lock, and then the chamber is filled by opening a valve that allows water to enter the chamber from the upper level. The whole operation will usually take between 10 and 20 minutes, depending on
426-537: A lock, and the position of the forward edge of the cill is usually marked on the lock side by a white line. The edge of the cill is usually curved, protruding less in the center than at the edges. In some locks, there is a piece of oak about 9 in (23 cm) thick which protects the solid part of the lock cill. On the Oxford Canal it is called a babbie; on the Grand Union Canal it is referred to as
497-480: A staircase lock can be used as an emergency dry dock). To avoid these mishaps, it is usual to have the whole staircase empty before starting to descend, or full before starting to ascend, apart from the initial chamber. One striking difference in using a staircase of either type (compared with a single lock, or a flight) is the best sequence for letting boats through. In a single lock (or a flight with room for boats to pass) boats should ideally alternate in direction. In
568-404: A staircase, however, it is quicker for a boat to follow a previous one going in the same direction. Partly for this reason staircase locks such as Grindley Brook, Foxton, Watford and Bratch are supervised by lockkeepers, at least during the main cruising season, they normally try to alternate as many boats up, followed by down as there are chambers in the flight. As with a flight, it is possible on
639-400: A tunnel, which when descending does not become visible until the chamber is nearly empty. A pound is the level stretch of water between two locks (also known as a reach ). The cill , also spelled sill , is a narrow horizontal ledge protruding a short way into the chamber from below the upper gates. Allowing the rear of the boat to "hang" on the cill is the main danger when descending
710-426: Is a normal top gate, and the intermediate gates are all as tall as the bottom gate). As there is no intermediate pound, a chamber can only be filled by emptying the one above, or emptied by filling the one below: thus the whole staircase has to be full of water (except for the bottom chamber) before a boat starts to ascend, or empty (except for the top chamber) before a boat starts to descend. In an "apparent" staircase
781-472: Is north-west of the centre of Richmond in a semi-urban part of southwest London. Downstream are Syon Park and Kew Gardens on opposite banks. It connects the promenade at Richmond with the neighbouring district of St. Margarets on the west bank during the day and is closed at night to pedestrians – after 19:30 GMT or after 21:30 when BST is in use. At high tide the sluice gates are raised and partly hidden behind metal arches forming twin footbridges. It
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#1732790738733852-443: Is only a staircase if successive lock chambers share a gate (i.e. do not have separate top and bottom gates with a pound between them). Most flights are not staircases, because each chamber is a separate lock (with its own upper and lower gates), there is a navigable pound (however short) between each pair of locks, and the locks are operated in the conventional way. However, some flights include (or consist entirely of) staircases. On
923-575: Is the change in water-level in the lock. The two deepest locks on the English canal system are Bath deep lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal and Tuel Lane Lock on the Rochdale Canal , which both have a rise of nearly 20 feet (6.1 m). Both locks are amalgamations of two separate locks, which were combined when the canals were restored to accommodate changes in road crossings. By comparison,
994-421: Is the first section, topped by the first of five ornate metal arches which spread over the other sections. The middle section has mechanically rising-to-parapet-height sluice gates forming sheets of metals above and close to the water line which is created by these structures when lowered. The final section is a set of two facing ramps in part with canoe/boat rollers. The lock and barrages were installed in 1894 by
1065-881: The Bollène lock on the River Rhône has a fall of at least 23 m (75 ft), the Leerstetten, Eckersmühlen and Hilpoltstein locks on the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal have a fall of 24.67 m (80.9 ft), each and the Oskemen Lock on the Irtysh River in Kazakhstan has a drop of 42 m (138 ft). The natural extension of the flash lock , or staunch, was to provide an upper gate (or pair of gates) to form an intermediate "pound" which
1136-476: The Grand Union . Operation of a staircase is more involved than a flight. Inexperienced boaters may find operating staircase locks difficult. The key worries (apart from simply being paralysed with indecision) are either sending down more water than the lower chambers can cope with (flooding the towpath, or sending a wave along the canal) or completely emptying an intermediate chamber (although this shows that
1207-529: The Kennet and Avon Canal . 53 %26 54 Vict. This is a complete list of acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the year 1890 . Note that the first parliament of the United Kingdom was held in 1801; parliaments between 1707 and 1800 were either parliaments of Great Britain or of Ireland ). For acts passed up until 1707, see the list of acts of the Parliament of England and
1278-613: The Milan canal system sponsored by Francesco Sforza ) between 1452 and 1458. In Ancient Egypt, the river-locks was probably part of the Canal of the Pharaohs : Ptolemy II is credited by some for being the first to solve the problem of keeping the Nile free of salt water when his engineers invented the lock around 274/273 BC. All pound locks have three elements: The principle of operating
1349-625: The Song dynasty (960–1279 CE), having been pioneered by the Song politician and naval engineer Qiao Weiyue in 984. They replaced earlier double slipways that had caused trouble and are mentioned by the Chinese polymath Shen Kuo (1031–1095) in his book Dream Pool Essays (published in 1088), and fully described in the Chinese historical text Song Shi (compiled in 1345): The distance between
1420-598: The Song dynasty (960–1279 CE). The Songshi or History of the Song Dynasty, volume 307, biography 66, records how Qiao Weiyue, a high-ranking tax administrator, was frustrated at the frequent losses incurred when his grain barges were wrecked on the West River near Huai'an in Jiangsu . The soldiers at one double slipway, he discovered, had plotted with bandits to wreck heavy imperial barges so that they could steal
1491-574: The Thames Conservancy to maintain a broad navigable depth of water upstream of Richmond. The rising barrage ensures upstream at least 1.72 metres (5 ft 8 in) of water is in the standard navigation channel (away from banks) to the next lock, Teddington, and an annual draw-off (an all-tides lifting of the sluice gates) takes place to enable dredging to keep the advertised 1.72 metres (5 ft 8 in) minimum channel depth. In 1908 an act transferred responsibility for all points of
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#17327907387331562-465: The list of acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland . The number shown after each act's title is its chapter number. Acts passed before 1963 are cited using this number, preceded by the year(s) of the reign during which the relevant parliamentary session was held; thus the Union with Ireland Act 1800 is cited as "39 & 40 Geo. 3 c. 67", meaning the 67th act passed during the session that started in
1633-596: The list of acts of the Parliament of Scotland . For acts passed from 1707 to 1800, see the list of acts of the Parliament of Great Britain . See also the list of acts of the Parliament of Ireland . For acts of the devolved parliaments and assemblies in the United Kingdom, see the list of acts of the Scottish Parliament , the list of acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly , and the list of acts and measures of Senedd Cymru ; see also
1704-470: The 39th year of the reign of George III and which finished in the 40th year of that reign. Note that the modern convention is to use Arabic numerals in citations (thus "41 Geo. 3" rather than "41 Geo. III"). Acts of the last session of the Parliament of Great Britain and the first session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom are both cited as "41 Geo. 3". Acts passed from 1963 onwards are simply cited by calendar year and chapter number. All modern acts have
1775-689: The Carrapatelo and Valeira locks on the Douro river in Portugal, which are 279 feet (85 m) long and 39 feet (12 m) wide, have maximum lifts of 115 and 108 feet (35 and 33 m) respectively. The two Ardnacrusha locks near Limerick on the Shannon navigation in Ireland have a rise of 100 feet (30 m). The upper chamber rises 60 feet (18 m) and is connected to the lower chamber by
1846-466: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the lockkeepers were required to remove the windlasses from all lock paddles at night, to prevent unauthorized use. A swell was caused by opening suddenly the paddle valves in the lock gates, or when emptying a lock. To help boats traveling downstream exit a lock, the locksman would sometimes open the paddles to create a swell, which would help "flush" the boat out of
1917-567: The Grand Union (Leicester) Canal, the Watford flight consists of a four-chamber staircase and three separate locks; and the Foxton flight consists entirely of two adjacent 5-chamber staircases. Where a very steep gradient has to be climbed, a lock staircase is used. There are two types of staircase, "real" and "apparent". A "real" staircase can be thought of as a "compressed" flight, where
1988-573: The Tudor period and in depictions at the time of the Great Fire of London which spared the bridge. This change, together with dredging of the lower river (lowest reaches) and construction of Teddington Lock and weir, meant that for hours of each day the Thames at Richmond, Twickenham, Ham, Petersham and northern Teddington, was a shallow watercourse running past great mud and shingle banks. The exception
2059-475: The advent of canals in Britain. The sides of the turf-lock are sloping so, when full, the lock is quite wide. Consequently, this type of lock needs more water to operate than vertical-sided brick- or stone-walled locks. On British canals and waterways most turf-sided locks have been subsequently rebuilt in brick or stone, and so only a few good examples survive, such as at Garston Lock , and Monkey Marsh Lock , on
2130-587: The boat entered the lock. Pulling on the rope slowed the boat, due to the friction of the rope against the post. A rope 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (6.4 cm) in diameter and about 60 feet (18 meters) long was typically used on the Erie Canal to snub a boat in a lock. One incident, which took place in June 1873 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, involved the boat the Henry C. Flagg and its drunk captain. That boat
2201-471: The bottom cill at all but the higher tides – the new bottom chamber rises just far enough to get the boat over the original lock cill. In China, the recently completed Three Gorges Dam includes a double five-step staircase for large ships, and a ship lift for vessels of less than 3000 metric tons. Examples of "apparent" staircases are Foxton Locks and Watford Locks on the Leicester Branch of
Richmond Lock and Footbridge - Misplaced Pages Continue
2272-591: The canal would cause frequent interruptions of the heavy road traffic. It can be emptied by pumping – but as this uses a lot of electricity the method used when water supplies are adequate is to drain the lock to a nearby burn . In 2016 the Kieldrecht Lock in the Port of Antwerp in Belgium took over the title of the world's largest lock from the Berendrecht Lock in the same port and still has
2343-544: The chambers so that some water from the emptying chamber helps to fill the other. This facility has long been withdrawn on the English canals, although the disused paddle gear can sometimes be seen, as at Hillmorton on the Oxford Canal . Elsewhere they are still in use; a pair of twinned locks was opened in 2014 on the Dortmund–Ems Canal near Münster , Germany. The once-famous staircase at Lockport, New York ,
2414-631: The chambers still have common gates, but the water does not pass directly from one chamber to the next, going instead via side ponds. This means it is not necessary to ensure that the flight is full or empty before starting. Examples of famous "real" staircases in England are Bingley and Grindley Brook . Two-rise staircases are more common: Snakeholme Lock and Struncheon Hill Lock on the Driffield Navigation were converted to staircase locks after low water levels hindered navigation over
2485-404: The chance of a boat finding a lock set in its favour. There can also be water savings: the locks may be of different sizes, so that a small boat does not need to empty a large lock; or each lock may be able to act as a side pond (water-saving basin) for the other. In this latter case, the word used is usually "twinned": here indicating the possibility of saving water by synchronising the operation of
2556-559: The cill bumper. Some canal operation authorities, primarily in the United States and Canada, call the ledge a miter sill (mitre sill in Canada). Gates are the watertight doors which seal off the chamber from the upper and lower pounds. Each end of the chamber is equipped with a gate, or pair of half-gates, traditionally made of oak or elm but now usually made of steel ). The most common arrangement, usually called miter gates ,
2627-523: The concept has been suggested in a number of cases, the only example in the world of a drop lock that has actually been constructed is at Dalmuir on the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland. This lock, of the single-chamber type, was incorporated during the restoration of the canal, to allow the replacement of a swing bridge (on a busy A road) by a fixed bridge, and so answer criticisms that the restoration of
2698-412: The conventional lock, the barrages and the slipway, which comprises three vertical steel sluice gates suspended from the footbridge structure. Each sluice gate weighs 32 tons, is 66 feet (20 m) in width and 12 feet (3.7 m) in depth. The lock permits passage of vessels up to 250 feet (76 m) long by 26 feet 8 inches wide . For about two hours each side of the published time of high tide
2769-425: The flight quickly; and where water is in short supply, a single pump can recycle water to the top of the whole flight. The need for a flight may be determined purely by the lie of the land, but it is possible to group locks purposely into flights by using cuttings or embankments to "postpone" the height change. Examples: Caen Hill locks, Devizes . "Flight" is not synonymous with "Staircase" (see below). A set of locks
2840-518: The form of the now-disused Écluse des Lorraines , connecting the Canal latéral à la Loire with the River Allier . A drop lock can consist of two conventional lock chambers leading to a sump pound, or a single long chamber incorporating the sump – although the term properly applies only to the second case. As the pounds at either end of the structure are at the same height, the lock can only be emptied either by allowing water to run to waste from
2911-414: The intermediate pounds have disappeared, and the upper gate of one lock is also the lower gate of the one above it. However, it is incorrect to use the terms staircase and flight interchangeably: because of the absence of intermediate pounds, operating a staircase is very different from operating a flight. It can be more useful to think of a staircase as a single lock with intermediate levels (the top gate
Richmond Lock and Footbridge - Misplaced Pages Continue
2982-403: The lock gates could be replaced and the boat removed from the lock. To economise, especially where good stone would be prohibitively expensive or difficult to obtain, composite locks were made, i.e. they were constructed using rubble or inferior stone, dressing the inside walls of the lock with wood, so as not to abrade the boats. This was done, for instance, on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal with
3053-413: The lock is 10 feet (3.0 m). The sluice gates were manually operated by lock keepers, who lived in housing mostly contained under the pedestrian steps and landing on both banks. From the date of the bridge's opening until some time during World War II , pedestrians were charged a toll of one (old) penny , i.e. 1 ⁄ 240 of a pound . However, sightseers who went onto the bridge and left from
3124-403: The lock. A boatsman might ask for a back swell, that is, to open and shut the paddles a few times to create some waves, to help him get off the bank where he was stuck. If boats ran aground (from being overloaded) they sometimes asked passing crews to tell the upstream lock to give them an extra heavy swell, which consisted of opening all the paddles on the lock gate, creating a surge that affected
3195-757: The locks near the Paw Paw Tunnel . and also the Chenango Canal On large modern canals, especially very large ones such as ship canals , the gates and paddles are too large to be hand operated, and are operated by hydraulic or electrical equipment. On the Caledonian Canal the lock gates were operated by man-powered capstans , one connected by chains to open the gate and another to draw it closed. By 1968 these had been replaced by hydraulic power acting through steel rams. The construction of locks (or weirs and dams) on rivers obstructs
3266-428: The metal parapet level, carved in a classical style with reredos and cornices , supporting painted metal arches. A matching-colour balustrade is above the arches finished with black lanterns, metal pillars and simple finials . The piers house the barriers and the arches support a pair of horizontal decks (walkways). Against the opposite bank is a gently elevated slipway accessed from upstream and downstream parts of
3337-688: The new canal was low. This resulted in a sequential pair of locks, with gates pointing in opposite directions: one example was at Hall Green near Kidsgrove , where the southern terminus of the Macclesfield Canal joined the Hall Green Branch of the earlier Trent and Mersey Canal . The four gate stop lock near Kings Norton Junction, between the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and the Worcester and Birmingham Canal
3408-528: The passage of fish. Some fish such as lampreys, trout and salmon go upstream to spawn. Measures such as a fish ladder are often taken to counteract this. Navigation locks have also potential to be operated as fishways to provide increased access for a range of biota. Locks can be built side by side on the same waterway. This is variously called doubling , pairing , or twinning . The Panama Canal has three sets of double locks. Doubling gives advantages in speed, avoiding hold-ups at busy times and increasing
3479-558: The river downstream of a point 350 yards (320 m) below Teddington Lock to the Port of London Authority thereby including this structure. When the London Bridge of 1209 to 1831 was demolished the removal of its bulky and elaborate piers resulted in the tides upstream returning to the rapid flows as they were downstream and before its forming of a near-barrier. That bridge was particularly dam -like when it housed 200 buildings in
3550-430: The river. As a superstructure was required to hold the suspended barriers, authorities agreed to build this in the form of two footbridges. The bridge was formally opened on 19 May 1894 by the then Duke of York (who later became King George V ), having cost £61,000 (equivalent to £8,400,000 in 2023). Richmond Lock is a half-tide lock and (half-tide) barrage which incorporates a public footbridge. The footbridge crosses
3621-437: The same side had to pay tuppence (two old pence, 1 ⁄ 120 of a pound ). The toll booths and the remains of the turnstile housings remain. Since two unconnected footbridges exist, one either side of the sluice-gate-holding brickwork and mechanisms, four toll booths and turnstiles had to be provided to collect the tolls. Lock (water navigation) Locks are used to make a river more easily navigable, or to allow
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#17327907387333692-469: The size of the lock and whether the water in the lock was originally set at the boat's level. Boaters approaching a lock are usually pleased to meet another boat coming towards them, because this boat will have just exited the lock on their level and therefore set the lock in their favour – saving about 5 to 10 minutes. However, this is not true for staircase locks, where it is quicker for boats to go through in convoy, and it also uses less water. The rise
3763-407: The spilled grain. In 984 Qiao installed a pair of sluice-gates two hundred and fifty feet apart, the entire structure roofed over like a building. By siting two staunch gates so close to one another, Qiao had created a short stretch of canal, effectively a pound-lock, filled from the canal above by raising individual wooden baulks in the top gate and emptied into the canal below by lowering baulks in
3834-411: The staircase by moving sideways around each other; or at peak times, one can have all the chambers full simultaneously with boats travelling in the same direction. When variable conditions meant that a higher water level in the new canal could not be guaranteed, then the older company would also build a stop lock (under its own control, with gates pointing towards its own canal) which could be closed when
3905-419: The structure, F.G.M. Stoney , took out seven patents relating to sluices between 1873 and 1894. Hunt and Steward, surveyors, designed the lockhouses. Ransomes & Rapier of Ipswich designed the ironwork including the arches. The structure was built between 1891 and 1894. The superstructure was built horizontally in three sections, the middle section forms the bulk and has, itself, three spans . The lock
3976-413: The sump to a lower stream or drain, or (less wastefully) by pumping water back up to the canal. Particularly in the two-chamber type, there would be a need for a bypass culvert, to allow water to move along the interrupted pound and so supply locks further down the canal. In the case of the single-chamber type, this can be achieved by keeping the lock full and leaving the gates open while not in use. While
4047-401: The three sluice gates are raised into the footbridge supports above, and river traffic can pass through the barrage unimpeded. For the rest of the tidal cycle sluice gates are lowered – ships and boats must use the lock alongside the barrage at a cost of £10 per boat. Rowing boats and kayaks can use the roller solid slipways which reach an apex above the height of the barrages. The maximum fall of
4118-493: The title for largest volume. In 2022 the IJmuiden sea lock serving the Port of Amsterdam became the world's largest lock by surface area. The lock is 500 m (1,600 ft) long, 70 m (230 ft) wide and has sliding lock gates creating a usable depth of 18 m (59 ft). The size of locks cannot be compared without considering the difference in water level that they are designed to operate under. For example,
4189-400: The top gate and raising ones in the lower. A turf-sided lock is an early form of canal lock design that uses earth banks to form the lock chamber, subsequently attracting grasses and other vegetation, instead of the now more familiar and widespread brick, stone, or concrete lock wall constructions. This early lock design was most often used on river navigations in the early 18th century before
4260-462: The two locks was rather more than 50 paces, and the whole space was covered with a great roof like a shed. The gates were 'hanging gates'; when they were closed the water accumulated like a tide until the required level was reached, and then when the time came it was allowed to flow out. The water level could differ by 4 or 5 feet (1.2 or 1.5 m) at each lock and in the Grand Canal the level
4331-416: The water on the pound above sometimes causing boats to run aground. In addition, it raised the water level on the pound below, causing some boats to strike bridges or get stuck. On horse-drawn and mule-drawn canals, snubbing posts were used to slow or stop a boat in the lock. A 200-ton boat moving at a few miles an hour could destroy the lock gate. To prevent this, a rope was wound around the snubbing post as
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#17327907387334402-453: The whole pound below. On the Erie Canal, some loaded boats needed a swell to get out of the lock. Particularly lumber boats, being top heavy, would list to one side and get stuck in the lock, and needed a swell to get them out. Some lockkeepers would give a swell to anyone to help them on the way, but some would ask for money for the swell. The Erie Canal management did not like swelling for two reasons. First, it used too much water lowering
4473-460: Was after weeks of above-average rainfall when the river is known as in spate however such outflow hinders navigation upstream. By the late 19th century water extraction above Teddington had increased to four of five of the city's main waterworks and after light or normal rainfall more barges found it impossible to navigate the reach during and for hours around the two low tides each day. In 1890, after many years of petitioning, an act of Parliament
4544-463: Was all that need be emptied when a boat passed through. This type of lock, called a pound lock was known in Imperial China and ancient Europe and was used by Greek engineers in the Canal of the Pharaohs under Ptolemy II (284 to 246 BC), when engineers solved the problem of overcoming the difference in height through canal locks . Pound locks were first used in medieval China during
4615-422: Was already leaking; the crew, having partially pumped the water out, entered Lock 74, moving in front of another boat. Because they failed to snub the boat, it crashed into and knocked out the downstream gates. The outrush of water from the lock caused the upstream gates to slam shut, breaking them also, and sending a cascade of water over the boat, sinking it. This suspended navigation on the canal for 48 hours until
4686-416: Was also a doubled set of locks. Five twinned locks allowed east- and west-bound boats to climb or descend the 60 feet (18 m) Niagara Escarpment , a considerable engineering feat in the nineteenth century. While Lockport today has two large steel locks, half of the old twin stair acts as an emergency spillway and can still be seen, with the original lock gates having been restored in early 2016. Loosely,
4757-464: Was built to maintain the lowest-lying head of water of the forty-five navigable reaches of the Thames above the rest of the Tideway . Below the structure for a few miles, at low tide, the navigable channel is narrow and restricts access for vessels with the greatest draft . The next major point of mooring below the lock is, accordingly, at Brentford Dock . The chief engineer who designed the core of
4828-571: Was enacted to build the half-lock and weir, the Richmond Footbridge Sluices, Lock and Slipway Act 1890 ( 53 & 54 Vict. c. ccxxiv). This is among a small minority of Thames locks not to have been built around an island or islands (aits). A barge lock was constructed against the north-east (" Surrey ") side. This is followed by four immense brick piers protected by large ashlar stone cutwaters (starlings). These in turn support relatively thin stone dressings reaching to
4899-412: Was invented by Leonardo da Vinci sometime around the late 15th century. On the old Erie Canal , there was a danger of injury when operating the paddles: water, on reaching a certain position, would push the paddles with a force which could tear the windlass (or handle) out of one's hands, or if one was standing in the wrong place, could knock one into the canal, leading to injuries and drownings. On
4970-456: Was raised in this way by 138 feet (42 m). In medieval Europe a sort of pound lock was built in 1373 at Vreeswijk , Netherlands. This pound lock serviced many ships at once in a large basin . Yet the first true pound lock was built in 1396 at Damme near Bruges , Belgium. The Italian Bertola da Novate (c. 1410–1475) constructed 18 pound locks on the Naviglio di Bereguardo (part of
5041-606: Was replaced in 1914 by a pair of guillotine lock gates which stopped the water flow regardless of which canal was higher. These gates have been permanently open since nationalisation. The best known example of a round lock is the Agde Round Lock on the Canal du Midi in France. This serves as a lock on the main line of the canal and allows access to the Hérault River . A second French round lock can be found in
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