Bovney lock closed - gate broken

[nfluester]

Just a heads up for anyone heading out this morning Bovney lock is currently out of action.

The gate hinge collar is broken so gate is hanging precariously.

No current ETA on when it will be fixed

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Was ok yesterday coming up and there was a lock keeper on duty. Not the new resident it was a relief lock keeper.

I hope this was just a breakage and happened during lock keeper hours rather than an out-of-hours boat strike.

I always tell anyone who is unsure about public power that you have to wait until the gates are completely open but do still sometimes see gates left not fully open.

 

[nfluester]

Still broke! They are going to try and winch it back up but they might need a crane in so could be next week. Apparently a Le boat was the last boat through at 8:30 this morning so.......

 

[Gavin E]

Crane coming tomorrow to attempt to lift gate back into position. They are not sure that will work, in which case they need additional barge lifting that might be 'the middle of next week.. '

Guess we won't know until tomorrow morning...

 

[nfluester]

Crane coming tomorrow to attempt to lift gate back into position. They are not sure that will work, in which case they need additional barge lifting that might be 'the middle of next week.. '

Guess we won't know until tomorrow morning...

Are you here at the moment? We've been trapped upstream since 9 this morning!

 

[Big John]

Its only the collar that has snapped. They do go from time to time. My guess is because the EA in their wisdom have got rid of all the equipment and staff that would normally attend a simple matter, they now have a third party contractor who does not understand the principals of the gate. It never required cranes in the past and was done within the hour.

 

[Gavin E]

Are you here at the moment? We've been trapped upstream since 9 this morning!

Yes we're waiting here too.. 2nd boat in the upstream queue...

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Its only the collar that has snapped. They do go from time to time. My guess is because the EA in their wisdom have got rid of all the equipment and staff that would normally attend a simple matter, they now have a third party contractor who does not understand the principals of the gate. It never required cranes in the past and was done within the hour.

The collars do crack quite often and it's an off the shelf part. There is an anchor/fixing point under a lid on the lock side to attach a hand winch to get the gate into right position for fitting the new collar strap.

However in this case I wonder if the gate was hit by a boat coming up and actually lifted out of its lower bearing.

That would need a crane to sort out, and a workboat as well probably.

 

[Gavin E]

The guys that assessed the gate seem to be concerned that the gate has been half opened by whoever first discovered the problem. (yes, I'm thinking nice thoughts and assuming it's just the collar breaking on its own, and not being whacked by a boat)
Apparently there isn't much holding it up and stopping it from falling over into the lock, which would cause added headaches... they said that usually its a simple winch job, but in this case not.

 

[nfluester]

Crane is now on site after being stuck down the lane for an hour while they cut down trees.

Apparently all of this could have been avoided if the EnvAgency had kept up the regular test certificate of the winch point which is meant to be every 6 months!

 

[Big John]

Crane is now on site after being stuck down the lane for an hour while they cut down trees.

Apparently all of this could have been avoided if the EnvAgency had kept up the regular test certificate of the winch point which is meant to be every 6 months!

That would require forward planning.

 

[Gavin E]

All open again

 

[Scapegoat]

Crane is now on site after being stuck down the lane for an hour while they cut down trees.

Apparently all of this could have been avoided if the EnvAgency had kept up the regular test certificate of the winch point which is meant to be every 6 months!

I wonder if an emergency vehicle like an ambulance or fire engine could have got down the lane before they cut down the trees? ?

 

[nfluester]

This is exactly why they are putting the license fee up 10% to cover the cost of their mistakes and miss managment of not maintaining the river properly for years!

If they had the winch point load tested every 6 months then it would have been fixed by a couple of engineers in a few hours.

I have no doubt "its because of Covid" would be thier excuse.

Just beggers belife, if they were a customer facing company they wouldn't get away with it.

Let's not give any credit to the EA it was The contractors that did an amazing job fixing it in quick time.

 

[Outinthedinghy]

A bit more expensive than one of these then !