East Farleigh Lock extended closure

[Medway Mudlark]

For those of you interested East Farleigh Lock on the Upper Mudway is now closed until possibly the end of June. Just received a notice to mariners from the EA. They apparantly have found a major structural fault in the lock wall at the lower gates. So have to demolish and rebuild. Lead time is about 12 weeks

 

[oldgit]

Thanks for that info.We have a number of RCC club members moored above lock.
Going to be cutting it a bit close for some of them to attend one or two major events down here on the tidal section.
http://www.medway.gov.uk/leisurecultureandsport/events/sweepsfestival2017.aspx
Not suprised about finding hidden problems,as locals knew, the lock has been leaking like a sieve for ages, suspect this may have caused some erosion underneath and around the chamber.
All Medway boaters, will I know, be very grateful to the Thames for the generous and substantial contribution from the capital fund towards the upkeep of the Medway and a little more will not be begrudged.

 

[Murv]

A response from the MRUA:

There are very many extremely emotive issues around what has been happening here.
Please allow me to try and explain,
This lock was built over 100 years ago and has over that time given many years of good service, we are all aware that it was beginning to show signs of age and was beginning to fail, it was leaking fairly badly and the operation was becoming more and more difficult.
The EA managed to secure £3 million of funding from central government to fully refit the lock completely. In order to secure funding various investigations and examinations were taken in an attempt to establish exactly what and where and how the work should be conducted. It was agreed with the MRUA that the navigation would be closed for the winter period of 2016/17 thus trying to limit any potential effect on the boating community, both business and pleasure. Before the main work commenced, over £280,000 was spent on this investigation work which included, structural surveys, concrete coring, boreholes and diver surveys. This work was undertaken to reduce the likelihood of finding problems during the main construction work.
Once the main work began it became evident that the condition of the concrete structure of the lock was far less stable than first thought and divers spent weeks placing heavy weights in the bottom of the lock and props across it to prevent it collapsing before the lock was drained. This set the project back some weeks but the weather had been kind and there had been no floods to prevent the work continuing at a good pace , work was on schedule to be completed by April. That was until this week when it was discovered that despite all investigation work there was a major fault with part of the existing lock wall. this section of wall is behind the left hand (as you look downstream) tail lock gate, where there is a formed recess to give full access to craft, this wall is 5 metres high and should be get gradually thicker from the top to the bottom. Sadly the construction workers discovered that at its lowest point was found to be only a few inches thick, when it needs to be in excess of 2 metres thick. This was completely unexpected (neither Eldridges, Hampstead or Teston Lock had this problem when they were rebuilt) and quickly extra propping had to be installed to prevent its collapse. The Environment Agency told us that they believed that spending £280,000 on investigations before the work commenced should have been enough (also based on experiences with the other locks) and this weakness that has been discovered could not have been foreseen. The Environment Agency did go on to say that they could have spent an extra £500,000 on draining the lock the previous year to undertake more investigations but this was thought to not be a good use of very limited public/ tax payers money. And time.
To fix this issue, they now need to get a large 14 tonne digger onto that side of the lock to excavate that area to below the bottom of the lock, and to install a new 3 metre thick 5 metre high concrete wall. In addition they need to install some temporary steel sheet pile framework to hold the land back while working to prevent any land slip or movement of the railway track. In order to provide this digger there needs to be a floating pontoon built to transport the said digger to the right location, as there is no road or vehicle access from that side of the river,
Obviously every effort is being made to undertake these additional works as quickly and efficiently as possible, in the meantime there are very many issues that need to be discussed and addressed, there is little point in over-reacting as the ultimate aim of all involved is to have a lock that is built to the correct standard to withstand a further 100 years use,
However there is very much a call for some form of compensation, due to the lack of use of part of the River. The fault however is not the fault of the EA, they have contracted other companies to conduct the work on their behalf, as such we feel that no-one is directly to blame.
The responsibility of the EA is to provide to the best ability a navigable waterway, this on the whole has historically been provided. This includes dredging, tree clearance, maintaining the locks, providing 24/7 water level control, toilets, showers, pump-outs and of course, permanent lock keepers at Allington Lock. Their Income to maintain the Medway from registered craft is about £200,000 when the actual cost of this providing this service is in fact over £500,000 per year, this is very large shortfall each year comes from central government and DEFRA, (who have also funded the £3 million for the lock refurbishment),
In addition to the pleasure craft who use the river there are some business who rely on the river for their income, these are also financially affected and could have severe effects on their future,
These and other issues need to be looked into, and investigated, before any conclusion can be formed.
We would ask that all respect is given so the people responsible are able to answer any issues fully and completely, some of the answers that may be given may not be to the desired outcome, but rest assured all effort is being made to provide a fully functional lock for all users for very many years to come,
We are happy to receive any questions and will endeavor to answer these fully.

[FONT=arial black, sans-serif]MRUA [/FONT]Medway River Users Association[FONT=arial black, sans-serif]mrua.news@gmail.com[/FONT]
[FONT=arial black, sans-serif][url]www.mrua.co.uk[/URL][/FONT]

 

[oldgit]

Thanks for that Chris.
In response to any critics out there, the upper Medway has enjoyed over the past decade considerable amounts of capital expenditure, some might say (not me) a great deal more than the navigation warrants.

 

[oldgit]

Thanks for that Chris.
http://www.allingtonlock.co.uk/attachments/Image/2017-01-31_-_East_Farleigh_Lock_Works.jpg

 

[Murv]

Great picture, that is certainly some major work going on!

 

[oldgit]

Very similar to the total reconstruction of Hampstead Lock at Yalding a few years ago.
Yalding rebuild was delayed due to the inundation of the lock works once or twice by floodwaters.
Other Medway locks have needed remedial work and the system is certainly in a much better condition now than it has been for long time.
Well done EA who are making very little go along way.
Not much left to do now.
What about some mooring rings at Maidstone, if only MBC councillors were aware of what an asset a river can be and follow Medways example.

 

[Medway Mudlark]

Its been tried many times over the last few decades. When the bridges were built to connect Whatman park they were intended to be much lower, thus preventing flybridge cruisers reaching Maidstone town centre. Why did they not make provision for visiting craft there? (much quiter than the town centre on a saturday night).So the rod and line brigade can monopolise most, if not all of the rivers banks. On a slightly brighter note though, it appears it wont be a gathering of boats this year, but a return of the river festival! Unless TMBC plead poverty at the 11th hour!

 

[oldgit]

As a serial offender regards attending the Maidstone River Festival ,think we have pennants going back about 20 years, was very disappointed when the event finally died.
Did attend some of the subsequent." boat gatherings".
Just before the last official festival,did manage a decent chat with one of the last of the independant group of local businessmen who gave up time and money to get this off the ground.
Got the impression that the council were perfectly happy to benefit from the the additional income and public appreciation generated but not prepared to put funding and expertise towards arranging the weekend.
One of the final nails, was legislation requiring the police to send a bill for policing the festival to the event organisers.
The bill was totally beyond the means of this particular non profit making event and although dramatically reduced to try and keep the thing going,was probably the coupe de grace.
Shame, the sheer amount of weekend footfall to the town must have generated considerable income for local business including pubs restuarants and local taxi companies as well as just putting a very pleasant riverside on the map.
The Medway River Festival possibly was as a direct result of seeing how successful the MRF was in generating interest and income.
Maidstone needs to wake up and smell the coffee and actively promote the river side.
Dredge the bottom alongside the bank outside the house of Frazer and getting some proper mooring bollards.
Just make it more boat friendly.

 

[oldgit]

and while we are at it......

As a serial offender regards attending the Maidstone River Festival ,think we have pennants going back about 20 years, was very disappointed when the event finally died.
Did attend some of the subsequent." boat gatherings".
Just before the last official festival,did manage a decent chat with one of the last of the independant group of local businessmen who gave up time and money to get this off the ground.
Got the impression that the council were perfectly happy to benefit from the the additional income and public appreciation generated but not prepared to put funding and expertise towards arranging the weekend.
One of the final nails, was legislation requiring the police to send a bill for policing the festival to the event organisers.
The bill was totally beyond the means of this particular non profit making event and although dramatically reduced to try and keep the thing going,was probably the coupe de grace.
Shame, the sheer amount of weekend footfall to the town must have generated considerable income for local business including pubs restuarants and local taxi companies as well as just putting a very pleasant riverside on the map.
The Medway River Festival possibly was as a direct result of seeing how successful the MRF was in generating interest and income.
http://www.visitmedway.org/whats-on
Maidstone needs to wake up and smell the coffee and actively promote the river side.
Clearing the bottom alongside the bank outside the house of Frazer and getting some proper mooring bollards would be an inexpensive start , this should be funded by MBC not EA.
Just make it more boat friendly.