On Locks and Quays tonight, Mike Clarke of L&L fame, whom I thought to be a bit of an expert, remarked that the Bingley 5-rise Lock Staircase was not a good solution to the problem, because every boat that passes through uses 5 lockfuls of water.
Now, I am pretty sure that he is just plain wrong here. A boat going down the 5-rise would take just one lockful of water down with it. A boat going up after a boat had just come down would use 4 locks full of water. However, another boat following it up would use only one lock of water. A boat going down just after one has come up would use no water, as the lockful of water it takes down with it was already drawn from the pound above by the boat coming up. The average would be somewhere between one and four locks of water depending on the sequence of boat movements in each direction. Barry likes to get single narrowboats passing pairs of narrowboats half way up and this will save water, bringing the average down a little. Anyone else have any thoughts on this? BTW, anyone seeing tonight's Locks and Quays will have seen brief footage of me legging Standedge Tunnel! -- Martin Clark Internet Boaters' Database http://www.boaterweb.co.uk Pennine Waterways Website http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk
