Lock 11 Peak Forest Canal, Marple

please alternate notice. 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/13560/peak-forest-canal-lock-11-marple-marple-flight

Due to further movement of the Chamber Wall at Marple Lock 11, the lock is now too narrow for boats to fit through the lock.  As such, we have unfortunately had to take the decision to close the canal to navigation.  We have considered jacking the lock walls again to try and get a few more weeks of navigation, but this would likely take around 2 weeks to complete at which point we wouldn't have enough water to operate the locks. This is very frustrating for our customers and the trust. Our teams will now start planning the more substantial repairs to this lock. We will be able to provide a update as the plans progress at a later date.

Unfortunately Marple Lock 11 has now been closed and we will have an update on Monday 23rd July 2018.

Further monitoring of Marple Lock 11 has shown no significant further movement of the lock chamber, and it has been deemed safe to operate the lock for boats up to 6’10” wide under assisted passage from 12th July onwards. Canal and River Trust Staff will be available to assist boats through the lock in between the hours of 09:00 and 10:00 and 15:00 -16:00 each day.  Engineers will continue to monitor the lock to identify if any further movement does occur, although we hope that it does not.  It may become necessary to shut the lock again at short notice if further movement does occur, and boaters should take this possibility into account when making plans. 

It is hoped that we will be able to continue navigation (albeit restricted and assisted) throughout the majority of the summer boating season, before the lock will be shut for more permanent repairs in the autumn.  The design of these works is ongoing, and ground investigations may require additional restrictions from time to time, these will be minimised and will be advertised as appropriate.

The works to jack back the chamber wall at Marple Lock 11 have been completed.  Unfortunately our monitoring has shown that the chamber wall moved (very slightly) overnight, so we want to continue monitoring over the weekend and into next week to ensure that it is safe, before we can re-open the lock to navigation (restricted to 6’10”).  While it remains closed, we are at least able to get on with the investigation works for the permanent repairs (to get back to full 7’2” boats), which are currently being designed with the intention to deliver this coming winter.  We hope that getting on with these investigations now should reduce disruption later in the summer.  We will provide a further update on Wednesday 11th.

Our teams have been pushing back the masonry in the lock chamber, this has been carried out over the last week. A large number of the stones have moved and are now at 6’11’’, which is the minimum which we require to allow 6’10’’ boats to pass through the lock.

There are some stones which, even though they have moved, have not moved back to allow sufficient clearance. Some of these moves back to 6’11’’ but then push forward again, restricting the width of the lock. Due to this is has now been decided that some masonry should be planed to achieve the require width within the lock.

This will be carried out over the next week, starting on July 2nd. It is likely that this will take a few days, along with the installation of weep holes in the chamber. Due to this the flight will remain closed to boats as works will continue to be carried out next week. The flight closure will then be reassessed at the end of next week.

During this week while we have been assisting boats through Lock 11, we have experienced further difficulties with boats over 45ft long getting stuck on the affected area of the lock wall.

To ensure safe passage through lock 11, we can only continue to allow passage for boats up to and including 45ft (13.75m) without restriction.

We appreciate this will only allow a small percentage of boats to use the lock flight and we are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. We are working hard to establish a temporary repair that will start on site on the 25th June. The aim of this temporary repair is to enable unrestricted passage through the summer whilst we prepare for a permanent solution to be delivered in the stoppage season. However, there is a risk that this temporary repair will not be successful, which resulting in the lock being closed until we are able to complete the permanent repair.

The lock will be closed to all boat traffic from 25th June while the temporary repair is carried out. We will be able to update further following the attempt at repair on Friday 29th June.

As a short-term measure we have successfully moved back the tow path side copings which were causing some of the pinch-points in the lock and we are currently considering how we can address the  movement which has occurred lower down in the chamber wall.  Our immediate aim is to provide a short-term solution which will provide sufficient clearance to enable all boats with a beam of  up to 6’ 10” to safely navigate through the lock. One option that we are investigating is the possibility of  jacking the walls back to provide more clearance and if this proves a feasible option, we will aim to do this as quickly as possible however, we realise that this will not be satisfactory solution in the long-term and so we are currently also undertaking further analysis and design to enable a more permanent repair to be developed.

Having undertaken further investigations we are now in a position to allow supervised passage through Lock 11 (Permitting specific width requirements). There will be no width restriction for boats up to and including 45ft (13.75m) long, boats that are over 45ft long must have a beam of 6”9 or less should be able to navigate through the lock. The lock will be opened and supervised on a daily basis between 9 - 10 in the morning and 3  – 4 in the afternoon. (Subject to change at short notice)

We fully appreciate this will be disappointing for many of our customers, our teams are working to minimise disruption as much as possible.

Following on from problems at Lock 11 over the weekend where we have been operating the lock under a restriction, reluctantly we had to take the decision to close the lock after more extensive problems were found in its operation than had been anticipated.

Our engineers and project managers have been assessing things today, and work is ongoing to realign some of the copings.   We will need to review things when this has been completed to decide whether or not we can reopen the lock or if a more extensive repair is going to be needed.

We know that this will be disappointing for people especially with the wait for the other work that that has happened at Marple.  We believe that this is a new issue on the flight, not something longstanding.  We want to assure everyone that we are doing everything that we can to reopen the lock as quickly as possible.

We expect to provide a further update mid week.

Unfortunately we have had to closed Lock 11 for the remainder of the day.

A review will be carried out tomorrow and a further update will be issued later in the day.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Our teams will be carrying out work to Lock 11 tomorrow throughout the day.

Passages will be only available between 11am and 1.30pm.

From Friday onwards, the hours will resume to 10am-4pm.

We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

There appears to have been some movement in the lock wall that could restrict passage for boats over 6”10, therefore lock 11 will only be passable under staff supervision until further notice.

The lock will be closed outside the hours of 10am & 4pm.

We apologise for any inconvenience.