"Eycott, George, VF UK - Technology \(TS\)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>In one of these it talks about a system of wires to open both gates on a >GU lock south of Hatton. First I have heard of it, anyone know any more? Yes, I noticed that too. Interesting. I came down the Marne-Rhine canal (eastward) in France last summer. Several of the locks have a mechanism connecting the bottom gates, so that winding one gate open (the have no balance beams, and are worked by windlasses) causes the other to open too. The mechanism is a hinged frame (too complicated to describe in words) connecting the gates, high enough for a barge to pass beneath. A great energy saver. I thought at the time how nice it would be if UK locks had these. However, there was a reminder of UK. Some of the frames were broken, and appeared to have been so for some time. The lock keepers (a travelling crew of a sullen man in a van and two friendly students on motor scooters) would have to send one of their number to the other side of the lock to open the other gate. There isn't always a tail bridge, and these are Freycinet locks (40 m long). Adrian Adrian Stott 07956-299966
