Ipswich Lock Gates U/S

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Carduelis

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In case people haven't spotted this elsewhere, the lock gates at Ipswich are out of action. It is possible to get access to the wet dock only on free-flow i.e 2 hours before high tide and for a short time afterwards.

Aparently the repair may take up to three weeks.

The marina don't seem to think it necessary to keep their customers informed, so it would be really helpful if anyone picking up more news about this could post it here.
 
Good post, I didn't think to do the same after i found out, drove down to the Haven from Norwich on one of those rare days this year I was free for a sail. Started engine and neighbour said "you know the lock is U/S don't you"
No I didn't.

Still the upside was a nice cup of coffee on Jolie Brise and a renewed interest in a berth at Foxes. Cheers Roger.

Lock gates do fail, but an email would have been nice.
 
Ah, one of the problems of doing the NtM on a Monday evening - it means that notices issued on a Tuesday wait a long time! Sorry.

Local Notice to Mariners No 10 - 2012
Restricted Locking
Mariners and Port Users are advised that due to essential
maintenance on the Outer Lock Gates we will be required to have
restricted operations at the lock until repairs have been completed.
Access will only be available on a ‘level’ which is approx 60-90
minutes before High Water.
Please contact on VHF Ch 68 or 01473 213526 for the latest
information. Every effort will be made to complete the repairs as
soon as possible so that normal operations can resume.
Harbour Master
16th October 2012
 
Advanced notice for the hardy winter sailors, Shotley Lock annual maintenance closure is from Mon 28 Jan to Friday 8 Feb 2013 inclusive.
 
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I 'phoned the IHM on Wednesday to check they were expecting me for my winter afloat and they warned me of the difficulties.
I then phoned the lock keepers who said the repair might take two weeks.

On Thursday there was the NtM available.

I walked down to the lock at about 21.00 on Friday and the outer gates were clearly open. There was an impressive quantity of water finding its way past the upper gates into the pen. Very noisy.

The level in the Wet Dock was significantly lower than I recall seeing it previously(as one would expect in the circs), and at the 15.00 High Water was only about 30cm from the top of the dockside, and that with Springs taking off.
 
Champagne Murphy said:
:confused:Spoke to Linda at the Haven Marina this PM, there is talk of using one gate to allow access but how wasn't made clear:confused:
Apparently more news tomorrow
Click to expand...

Force the broken gate closed and jam it in place, use the other gate for access ?

Should be easy, take the faulty ram off and manually push the gate closed, hold it closed with a big lump of metal, the same length as the extended ram.
 
PaulGooch said:
Force the broken gate closed and jam it in place, use the other gate for access ?

Should be easy, take the faulty ram off and manually push the gate closed, hold it closed with a big lump of metal, the same length as the extended ram.
Click to expand...

When I went through Laggan Locks on the Caledonian in Spetember, that was exactly what they did with a broken hydraulic ram on one of the gates
 
jimi said:
When I went through Laggan Locks on the Caledonian in Spetember, that was exactly what they did with a broken hydraulic ram on one of the gates
Click to expand...

It's a breakdown that should have been worked around in a day. Very poor performance indeed.

Hell, you could even have the broken gate partially working by fitting the closest ram you could find, not exactly rocket science.

But then, the staff are too incompetent to even send an email to berth holders.
 
Champagne Murphy said:
:confused:Spoke to Linda at the Haven Marina this PM, there is talk of using one gate to allow access but how wasn't made clear:confused:
Apparently more news tomorrow
Click to expand...
She just didn't explain it well. One pair of gates is not working, the other pair is. That's why they will only let you in or out close to HW. The rest of the time, just the one pair of gates is holding the water in the Wet Dock, so they can't open them.
 
Should we be asking for refunds?

I'm getting a bit miffed about this.

We pay ABP a not-inconsiderable amount of money for all-tide access and it isn't available. Secondly they haven't seen fit even to inform their customers of the problem or when it might be resolved. Presumably their thinking is that if they don't mention it then some people won't notice as it's a quiet time of year...

I doubt they will be as shy when it comes to issuing next year's invoices in a few weeks time.

Anyone care to join me in pressing for some form of compensation?
 
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