Canal lock gates replaced in 10-week process

Experts have completed a painstaking 10-week process to replace two sets of lock gates on the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal.

Worn-out gates were replaced at the top and bottom ends of the 200-year-old Tinsley Flight Lock, where the canal meets the River Don.

Further maintenance work would take place as part of a six-month programme to improve the network's resilience to climate change, the Canal & River Trust said.

Site supervisor Antony License said the work would ensure the canal remained "safe and operable for the passage of boats".

Each set of lock gates has to be replaced around every 25 years, Mr License said.

The 3.5-tonne gates, which are over 15ft (4.5m) high, were hand-crafted at the charity's specialist workshop at Stanley Ferry in Wakefield.

They then had to be fitted using a crane with a 217ft (66m) telescopic arm, known as a boom.

The water had to be drained from the lock for the operation, so Mr License said the work was scheduled for winter so there would be fewer boats on the canal.

It was drained using a "cofferdam", a watertight enclosure that holds back the flow of the river.

England and Wales' man-made canal network spans 2,000 miles, with 320 miles in Yorkshire, and dates back 250 years.

The trust said more boats used it today than at the height of the Industrial Revolution.

However, it said more frequent and severe storms were bringing flooding and landslips, causing "unprecedented" damage to canal infrastructure.

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