Kirkfield Lift Lock

Infobox Waterlock
lock_name = Kirkfield Lift Lock


caption=
waterway = Trent-Severn Waterway
county = Canada
maint = Parks Canada
operation = Hydraulic
first = 1907
latest = 1969
length = 42.4 m
width = 10.1 m
fall = 14.9 m
sealevel = 256.2 m
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distenda =
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coordinates= coord|44|35|22.30|N|78|59|13.72|W
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The Kirkfield Lift Lock is a boat lift located in the city of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada, near the village of Kirkfield. It forms the Lock 36 of the Trent-Severn Waterway, situating at the highest section of the canal (256.2 m). [cite web
title = Lock 36 - Kirkfield Lift Lock
publisher = Parks Canada
date = 2007-03-06
url = http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern/visit/lock36_e.asp
accessdate = 2008-08-25] One of only nine locks of this type to be ever constructed, it is the second in height, being surpassed only by the Peterborough Lift Lock, located on the same canal.cite web
title = Canada's New Government celebrates the Kirkfield Lift Lock Centennial
publisher = newswire.ca
date = 2007-07-21
url = http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2007/21/c8422.html
accessdate = 2008-08-26]

Construction history

The early years

Construction of the lock took place between 1900 and 1907. It was contrived by Richard Birdsall Rogers, a Canadian engineer, who adopted the design of the Lifts on the old Canal du Centre in Belgium. The concept of the hydraulic lift lock had never been implemented in the harsher Canadian climate prior to the construction of the Peterborough Lift Lock, also designed by Rogers. The successful completion of the locks was therefore considered a significant technological breakthrough.

Modernization

During the late 1960s, the Kirkfield Lift Lock underwent a series of renovations. The original manual controls were electrified and automated, enabling all lock operations to be activated from a single console in the new control tower. The water-driven gate engines and pumps were removed, as well as the retaining walls, concrete piers, and the steel aqueduct. The shops and lockmaster's houses built along the canal were also demolished. The lock was reinforced with a massive concrete structure; a new two-lane underpass was constructed underneath.

Currently, the lock is used exclusively by pleasure boats, like the rest of the canal, becoming obsolete for commercial traffic after the present version of the Welland Canal was completed in 1932.

References