Beginners Guide To Bridges

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There are as nearly as many different designs and types of bridges as there are canals, almost all of them have there own features.

Fortunately most bridges are fixed, made out of different types of stone or brick which was common to the area. On narrow canals care should be taken when going through fixed bridges as they can be narrow or low or both.

On some canals you will find moveable bridges, again different types on different canals. Counterbalanced lift bridges are common on the Llangollen and Oxford canals, with swing bridges found on the Leeds and Liverpool and the Gloucester and Sharpness Canals. Both lift and swing bridges vary in there operation, some are electric, some are moved by hand and some a combination of both, you will occasionaly find one that is operated by a bridge keeper, usually only open during working hours. You will find some bridges that accomadate a farm track and are left open all the time, you just sail through and leave them open as you found them. Some lift bridges you will find have a chain or rope attached to the balance beam, you pull down on the chain and the bridge lifts so that you can go through, you must hold the bridge in this position or you may find the bridge dropping on to your boat as you are going through, some lift bridges are hydraulicaly operated, they are lifted useing your windlass and usually require many turns to raise them, others are elecrically operated, you will need a BW yale key to operate these, once unlocked there is usually one large button for up and one for down; you need to keep the button pressed till the bridge is completely open, sometimes just one button is used to open and close the bridge. The old swing bridges on the Leeds and Liverpool canal are being replaced with electric or partially electric ones. Some of the old bridges were very heavy and would need great effort to open and shut them, thankfully most of these have gone now. Some of the new bridges are fully automatic, again you unlock the control panel with your BW key, press the button and the warning lights will flash and the barriers will come down, once the barriers are down the chocks that hold the bridge firm will slide out and the bridge will open, once through pressing the other button reverses the process. You will find a few bridges that are only partially automatic, once the chocks slide out you have to push the bridge open and then close it by hand, these bridges can take you by suprise; I remember watching boats comeing back from the Mersey River Festival at such a bridge in Maghull, almost every boat that came through was caught unawares, with a usuall shout from the person opening the bridge to there partner, "it's stuck, it won't open". Whenever you are operating any electrically operated bridge, read the instructions fully before you start.