Eisey Lock & Rucks Bridge Restoration

Eisey Lock and Rucks Bridge Project

Technical Information

Eisey Lock Restoration

The restoration of the lock presents a number of challenges. Access to the lock by vehicles was non-existent and the towpath between it and Rucks Bridge is in a different ownership (Clarke Trust). The main chamber has between 3ft and 5ft of water and silt in it depending on the time of year. A feeder enters the canal immediately below the lock and the pound below is in water for perhaps half a mile.

The canal above the lock is dry with minimal silt and access to work on the top sill area is good.

The lock was surrounded by trees of various ages and sizes and these have been removed. Many were elms which had dutch elm disease and were dead or dying. There were perhaps half a dozen larger trees growing on, or out of, the structure including a particularly large one growing on the top sill and another at the bottom of the the lock.

The ground surrounding the lock is somewhat uneven and the copings should not be trusted due to the condition of the walls underneath. For this reason orange safety fencing prevents people from inadvertently getting too close to the lock edges.

Another complexity has been the presence of badgers. Fortunately, the main sett is located well to the west of the lock and of the 40 or so holes found within 25m of the lock, most were disused or were rabbit holes. A license has been obtained to install 1 badger gate on the overflow weir outlet to exclude badgers from the brick culvert but work can be carried out on the rest of the lock without disturbing badgers that may be using the other few holes showing signs of activity.

The restoration is perhaps viewed in 3 phases with each successive phase involving more work and complexity. Each successive phase has value of its own with or without the subsequent phases.

Phase 1 - Removal of trees growing in or close to the structure. (complete)

The aim has been to remove all trees and saplings growing close to the lock edge or associated structures. This should prevent or at least slow down further deterioration due to root growth as well as being a prerequisite for the creation of a safe working area for later phases of work.

This phase is substantially complete with just a few trees needing specialist treatment due to safety or wildlife considerations..

Phase 2 - Repairs to the head of the lock (underway, likely to be complete Aug 2008)

The aim will be to carry out repairs to the head walls, paddle holes, gate recesses and overflow weir which are accessible at the top end of the lock without clearing and draining the main chamber.

This is likely to involve the removal and replacement of areas damaged brickwork, repointing and the lifting and resetting of some of the coping stones. Work of this nature is best carried out in dry weather and when the temperature at night is unlikely to fall below about 5 C. Much of this work will employ lime mortar and carefully selected replacement bricks of the right size, colour and specification have been sourced.

The top sill area will need to be cleared and surfaced in such a way as to prevent future vegetation damage.

The key issue addressed prior to the commencement of this work was the creation of adequate access for the delivery of materials to site. This has been achieved be gaining access along the north (offside) bank from Rucks Bridge along the edge of a field. By carefully planning the timing of the delivery of bulky materials to coincide with dry periods in the summer, it should be possible to do this without creating a surfaced track.

The work is being carried out by Dig Deep over a series of weekend visits and week long camps.

Phase 3 - The Main Lock Chamber (initial clear out planned Aug 2008, main works 2009/10)

Restoration of the main lock chamber has a number of challenges associated with it. The principle ones include damming off the tail of the lock, the removal of the silt and debris from the chamber and pumping down the lock when work is taking place. The condition of the walls is such that initial work will have to be planned carefully to avoid the risk of collapse on to anyone working near them.

This clearing of the chamber is likely to take place in August 2008 using hired equipment and this will allow a close inspection of the main chamber.

The bottom wing walls will be restored first and a set of stop plank grooves fitted in order to make it easier to isolate the lock chamber from the canal belwo which is in water.

Rucks Bridge Restoration

Rucks Bridge is an ongoing restoration project which started in 2006. The initial work mainly concentrated on repairs to the offside (north) lower abutment which was becoming compromised due to the disintegration of a row of stones at what was the original waterline. Some of these had broken up and sections of the brick wall above had collapsed due to lack of support. The damaged section of stonework are being replaced by hard engineering bricks following advice from British Waterways.

Working on the lower parts of the structure would have been difficult due to the presence of rubble, silt and water both upstream and downstream of the bridge. The bridge hole was dug out using a hired excavator by volunteers at the beginning of July 2007 in preparation for the repair of any defects in the lower towpath wall and abutments.

Water used to flow down the canal for much of the year but new gravel pits upstream of the work sites has resulted in the failure of the water feeders except in wet periods of weather. The plan is therefore to pump out the bridge hole which is between two bunds when work is to be carried out but it is inevitable that there will be times when this area is inundated and work will not be possible.

The work plan at Rucks Bridge includes:

1) Completion of the repair work to the offside abutment wall (complete)

2) Removals of large stumps and roots from towpath wall (done by WRG BITM 17&18 Feb 2007)

3) Repair of the towpath wall in brick and dry stone walling to match original (underway 2007/2008). This work was delayed by excessive flooding in 2007.

4) Repair of the offside approach walls (underway)

5) Dismantling of upper brickwork displaced by root damage and root removal (east side) (done in summer 2007)

6) Repair of upper brickwork (east side) using cleaned original bricks and portland cement (done in summer 2007)

7) Removal and replacement of damaged upper courses (west side) (done in summer 2007)

8) Cutting out and pointing of cracks caused by settlement of the bridge using lime mortar (done in summer 2007)

Items 5,6,7 & 8 required the erection of scaffolding on the east and west side of the bridge by an external contractors. Due to the costs, the duration the scaffolding needed was kept to a minimum.

Cotswold Canals Trust, 44 Black Jack Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire. GL7 2AA
Tel: 01285 643440