Lock gates mishap

Published: Friday, 08 February 2013

THE replacement of the lock gates at Dobson Locks at Apperley Bridge on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal certainly did not go according to plan—the crane fell into the canal.

This has resulted in an investigation, but it is clear that the crane was too near the edge, which gave way under its weight, landing upside down in the water—though the driver managed to leap out, Alan Tilbury tells us.

Approached the edge

It was the towpath that gave way as the crane, weighing a stated 64 tons, approached the edge, with a view to removing the old gates, with roger Roger Fox pointing out it was an old problem, having discovered the plaque, pictured...

A spokesman for CaRT described it as a 'rare incident', and they would 'apply any lessons learned from it'.