Peterborough Lift Lock

The Peterborough lift lock is a boat lift located on the Otonabee River in the city of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada and is Lock 21 on the Trent-Severn Waterway.

The dual lifts are the highest hydraulic boat lifts in the world, rising 19.8 m (65 ft). This was a considerable accomplishment when conventional locks usually only had a 2 m (7 ft) rise. However it is not the highest boat lift in the world - the lift at Strépy-Thieu in Belgium being greater in both capacity (1,350 tonnes) and height difference (73.15 m).

No external power is needed, the lift lock functions by gravity alone using a counterweight system. When one side reaches the top position it stops about 5 cm (2 inches) below the adjoining canal's water level. When the gates open water flows into the ship basin until the water level rebalances. The weight of the extra water is enough to power the hydraulic lift. As the top level lowers to the bottom position it pushes the other side up to the top position where the cycle starts over again.

In the 1980s, a visitor's centre was built beside the lock. It offers interactive simulations of going over the lift lock in a boat, and also historical exhibits detailing the construction of the lift lock.

Many local residents of Peterborough skate on the canal below the lift lock in the winter.

History

The lift locks were designed by Richard Birdsall Rogers, a superintendent of the Trent Canal (part of the Trent-Severn Waterway). In 1896, he travelled to France, Belgium and England to see existing examples in operation.

Part of the reason that the lift locks were built was political. At the time a federal election was taking place and in order to shore up local support the project was fast tracked. In 1896 construction was approved and contractors signed on prior to any real working drawings being ready. The government still fell, and Richard Rogers, who was concerned about his links to the former administration, only released portions of the working drawings bit by bit. It worked, allowing him to remain on the job as the main designer.

The final project included many engineering firsts. It was the first lock to be built out of concrete, and at the time was the largest structure ever built in the world with unreinforced concrete.

Construction - by Corry and Laverdure of Peterborough (who excavated the site and built the concrete towers and lock) and Dominion Bridge of Montreal (metal work including rams, presses and large caissons of the lock) - was finished in 1904. The lift locks officially opened to the public to a crowd of thousands on 9 July 1904, and remain in full use today.

According to a city of Peterborough site the lock basins hold 1,300 tons of water.ref|Dimensions The basins are convert|140|ft|m long, convert|33|ft|m wide and convert|9|ft|10|in|m deep. The vertical distance lifted is convert|65|ft|m.

The Trent-Severn has another lift lock at Kirkfield, with basins of the same dimension, but which lifts over a smaller vertical distance.

ee also

*List of boat lifts
*Trent-Severn Waterway
*Canal lock

References

# [http://www.city.peterborough.on.ca/gallery/liftlock.htm The Peterborough Lift Lock] , "City of Peterborough"
# [http://collections.ic.gc.ca/waterway/rg_eng_i/pe_e.htm Peterborough Lift Lock] , "Library and Archives Canada"

External links

* [http://www.ftsw.com/liftlock/ Site for the lift lock's 100th anniversary]
* [http://collections.ic.gc.ca/heirloom_series/volume5/208-209.htm Peterborough Lift Lock: World's Highest Hydraulic Lift Lock] , "Library and Archives Canada"
* [http://www.hanifworld.com/liftlock.htm Peterborough Lift Lock Views]
* [http://www.downtherabitlane.com Peterborough Down the Rabbit Lane B&B, minutes away]