Huddersfield canals get new gates

Published: Wednesday, 23 February 2011

BRITISH Waterways is carrying out major repairs to three locks on the Huddersfield canals, part of Pennine waterways in the coming weeks as part of its annual maintenance programme.

The works are taking place at Lock 8, Falls Lock, on the Huddersfield Broad Canal and locks 26E, Skew Bridge Lock, (pictured) and 27E, Mill Pond Lock, on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal near Slaithwaite, all of which should be completed before the start of the main boating season in April. Costing more than £150,000 the work will involve replacing the lock gates at each site, British Waterways tells us.

£100 millions?

However,  Waterway Manager for Manchester & Pennine region, David Baldacchino, explained:

"Each year we carry out a full programme of maintenance and repair work. Across the country, we spend more than £100 millions on maintenance. This year, the Huddersfield Narrow Canal is one of our priority areas which, is why we are replacing all of the gates at four locks, costing more than £300,000 in all.

"We will have to take out the old gates and then these will be recycled. The new gates which have been taken to the work sites using a boat for some of the journey will be put into place. This is an extremely precise job and requires the carpenter and his team to have lots of patience as they get the exact position right.

"In this region we have more than 230 miles of canals and 268 locks and as one size does not fit all it can be a challenge when it comes to restoration and maintenance. Each job is different to the next one and we have to plan carefully to make sure we adhere to strict safety and heritage priorities."