Abseilers for Anderton Boat Lift

A NEW way has been devised to inspect the Anderton Boat Lift, saving it being swathed in scaffolding—by using abseilers.

Being constructed 140 years ago the boat lift needs inspection for rust and to make sure it is kept in good working order, so a team of abseilers will shortly be dangling from the structure to inspect its metalwork to make sure that it is free from corrosion or other defects.

Reopened

As many boaters are aware, the 80 foot tall structure lifts boats 50 feet between the Trent & Mersey Canal and the Weaver. It was fully restored to working order in 2002 in a £7 millions project, when it was reopened as the picture shows.

The inspection team are expected to take a week as they painstakingly check the structure to ensure its structural integrity. The alternative would be to swathe the structure in scaffolding, but this would mean the boat lift would have to be closed with the ensuing inconvenience this would cause to boaters and trip boats.