Allan Cazaly wrote... >How in the devil can anyone manage to lift a gate? Surely the metal >(adjustable) collar around the neck of the top bearing would hold >everything in place? is it due to *BASHING* the boat against the bottom >gate as a lazy way of opening it? I can't understand anyone chancing >the servere damage to boat or gate.
We're talking about top gates here, not bottom gates. In the case, mentioned here recently, of an unpowered butty boat lifting a gate on the Ashton Canal, the bow of the boat had slipped into a gap between the gate and the metal balance beam. This was not noticed by the crew and, as the water continued to rise in the lock, it started to push the boat under. There were two forces in play here: the gate holding the boat down and preventing it from rising with the rising water, and the force of floatation, or whatever it is called, keeping the boat afloat. In this instance, the second force won - the amount of force needed to push the boat under was too great, and the gate fixing gave way. Had the gate fixing been stronger, the boat would have been sunk in the lock, so perhaps the limited strength is a design feature? -- Martin Clark Internet Boaters' Database http://www.boaterweb.co.uk Pennine Waterways Website http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk
