Cookham Lock public power not working

[boatone]

Surely they were only changed for the benefit of lock keepers in the 70's - if (increasingly) no lock keepers on duty why now revert back to the old locks as per above Godstow?

Do you mean 'why now' or do you mean 'why not' ?

 

[ianc1200]

Correct Tony - I meant "why not" - yes let's go back to the almost foolproof gates & paddles.

Are they really going to close the lock at the end of the working day & leave those returning to marinas/boatyards to wait until you can hand wind? Surely there's a right of navigation + what proportion of the licence fee are they intending to return?

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Surely they were only changed for the benefit of lock keepers in the 70's - if (increasingly) no lock keepers on duty why now revert back to the old locks as per above Godstow?

Its a nice idea but I wonder if there is still space for the balance beams? They are really quite long and there may be more modern infrastructure or whatever obstructing the swinging arc. Also quite a few locks have been enlarged possibly making manual operated gates impossible.

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Correct Tony - I meant "why not" - yes let's go back to the almost foolproof gates & paddles.

Are they really going to close the lock at the end of the working day & leave those returning to marinas/boatyards to wait until you can hand wind? Surely there's a right of navigation + what proportion of the licence fee are they intending to return?

If the lock is completely unuseable surely some aggravated boater will at some point find a way to cut the power and force a default to hand wind? Maybe they need to fit CCTV to keep an eye on it out of hours..

 

[ianc1200]

Surely that's the whole point; he should be encouraged to find a way to cut the power if the EA cannot be clever enough to do so. Faced with waiting 4 hours to come back through Cookham lock wouldn't you have a go?

 

[boatone]

Surely that's the whole point; he should be encouraged to find a way to cut the power if the EA cannot be clever enough to do so. Faced with waiting 4 hours to come back through Cookham lock wouldn't you have a go?

I think that if simply cutting the power permitted hand winding then the lockie himself would have been doing that at the end of his shift, let alone the EA recognising that option.
For some reason this appears not to be the case.
I am told that further information may become available next week. - here's hoping.

 

[ianc1200]

Historically, & long before the days of public power, Jim Andrews used to leave the power on at Cookham, my memory is you had to use the middle gates, but cannot think now how that would work. Brian Webb used to do the same at Hurley. BTW, Tony thanks for the pm, got to get on with some AutoCad drawings, may call you later.

 

[prof pat pending]

There must be more to this

If they were locked out of their own computer, surely they'd just switch it off and plug another one in :ambivalence:

 

[Outinthedinghy]

Maybe the geyser who had the password fitted a booby trap to the system to keep himself in work and nobody has a clue how disarm it.

Cut the red wire or blue wire?

 

[oldgit]

Correct Tony - I meant "why not" - yes let's go back to the almost foolproof gates & paddles.

With rapidly ageing boating population,some of whom will have trouble getting on and off the boat,the mere threat of them having to push a pair 3 ton gates at each end of EVERY chamber will stop[ them in their tracks ?

 

[Outinthedinghy]

The obvious solution is to simply give a district lock keeper some overtime to take the lock through to 2200 or whatever. that would be better than boaters getting held up and (inevitably) annoyed specially if this will be a season-long problem.

Apparently there is no function to switch from lock keeper directly to hand wind without going through the timed public power. Cutting power while it is is on hand wind will mean lock keeper has to hand wind as well - all day - but as soon as it is switch to Lock Keeper it -will- do the timed public power cycle.
Can't be rocket science to rearrange it but there may be issues around stopping the lock working altogether which would not be ideal.

I reckon they'll sort it on a short stoppage sometime in April ..

 

[Big John]

The obvious solution is to simply give a district lock keeper some overtime to take the lock through to 2200 or whatever. that would be better than boaters getting held up and (inevitably) annoyed specially if this will be a season-long problem.

Apparently there is no function to switch from lock keeper directly to hand wind without going through the timed public power. Cutting power while it is is on hand wind will mean lock keeper has to hand wind as well - all day - but as soon as it is switch to Lock Keeper it -will- do the timed public power cycle.
Can't be rocket science to rearrange it but there may be issues around stopping the lock working altogether which would not be ideal.

I reckon they'll sort it on a short stoppage sometime in April ..

Which year?

 

[shades]

The middle gates at Cookham were the first gates to have public power, it was the prototype for the "Sulby" system that was installed at Boulters and below Windsor.
It "worked" by using the centre gates plus one other set (either head or tail) which had to be hand wound.
Jim did not "leave the power on", it was designed to give public power.
The situation at Hurley was different, but not many boaters knew about the power being accidently left on.
Switching the power off to the pedestals at Cookham would cause the 12v battery in each pedestal to run flat very quickly.
The battery is used to power the buttons/solenoids used to select sluices/gates, other locks use levers to do this on hand wind.

 

[Outinthedinghy]

It seems like a slightly ridiculous situation when it is necessary to have a battery to be able to operate the hand winding mechanism. Surely the whole point of hand wind is it only relies on human effort ie no electric required.
It seems a bit basic to use levers.
It must be a tiny little battery in there - maybe a bigger battery would be a good idea or a solar panel fitted to the top of the pedestal as a backup charging source.

I wonder how many lock keepers have complained about the new push - button gear?up til a few years ago (Cookham excepted of course) the standard arrangement was a little handle sometimes decorated with ropework which was slotted onto a lever to actuate the motors and as said the choice of gate or sluice was lever operated also.

Why did the push button systems get added? Was it because boaters wanted powered locks or ea wanted to reduce staffing? Either way its not been an improvement I don't think. Hand winding is a chore but if you don't fancy it then moor up and enjoy the evening !

 

[Riverleak]

Why doesn't the EA pay the lock keeper to come out each hour on the hour and make one lock up and one down to let any waiting boats through until the hand wind mechanism comes in to effect at 10pm?

 

[Riverleak]

I do agree with your comment about winding the lock, outinthedinghy. The river was much more peaceful and serene in the evenings allowing a time for rest on the river.

 

[ianc1200]

Shades, thanks for the explanation about Cookham & the middle gates.

 

[shades]

It must be a tiny little battery in there -

It is a large 12v battery, the size you would have in a car.
I have seen jump leads being used on them in the past...

As for the buttons... They were added to the old arch-shaped pedestals to give public power to the people!

 

[Cashbuyer]

Will there actually be a lock keeper on duty during this debacle? I lost count last season of the times that we had to work Cookham lock on self service. And why do we have to curtail passage during a lunch break? EA need to make sure that lock is manned constantly throughout the day during this issue and get to grips with manning. Went through Temple last summer with three staff on duty doing a poor job as each was overruling the other and then arriving at Marlow to find self service notice during a busy weekend in July. It's a joke.

 

[boatone]

As for the buttons... They were added to the old arch-shaped pedestals to give public power to the people!

Not sure that this was due to user demand though. Seem to remember that move to introduce full overnight public power was an EA initiative rather than a result of user pressure and there was scepticism and concern that it might be the thin end of the wedge re lock keeper services.
Not to say that many users haven't welcomed the facility but gradually we have been 'educated' to claims that the EA have no statutory duty to provide assistance to boats transiting locks.