Anderton, Cheshire - Boat Lift, Trent & Mersey Canal - IWA postcard c.1990s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Anderton Boat Lift, Cheshire [on Trent & Mersey Canal]
• Publisher:  Inland Waterways Association (IWA)
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

Please ask if you need any other information and I will do the best I can to answer.

Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one. No cards have been trimmed (unless stated).

------------------------------------------------

Postage & Packing:

Postage and packing charge should be showing for your location (contact if not sure).

No additional charges for more than one postcard. You can buy as many postcards from me as you like and you will just pay the fee above once. Please wait for combined invoice. (If buying postcards with other things such as books, please contact or wait for invoice before paying).

Payment Methods:

UK - PayPal, Cheque (from UK bank) or postal order

Outside UK: PayPal ONLY (unless otherwise stated) please.   NO non-UK currency checks or money orders (sorry).

NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

----------------------------------------------

Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

*************

The Anderton Boat Lift is a two caisson lift lock near the village of Anderton, Cheshire, in north-west England. It provides a 50-foot (15.2 m) vertical link between two navigable waterways: the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal. The structure is designated as a Scheduled Monument, and is included in the National Heritage List for England.^[1]

Built in 1875, the boat lift was in use for over 100 years until it was closed due to corrosion in 1983. Restoration started in 2001 and the boat lift was re-opened in 2002. The lift and associated visitor centre and exhibition are operated by the Canal & River Trust. It is one of only two working boat lifts in the United Kingdom; the other is the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland.

Salt has been extracted from rock salt beds underneath the Cheshire Plain since Roman times. By the end of the 17th century a major salt mining industry had developed around the Cheshire ""salt towns"" of Northwich, Middlewich, Nantwich and Winsford.

Completion of the River Weaver Navigation in 1734 provided a navigable route for transporting salt from Winsford, through Northwich, to Frodsham, where the Weaver joins the River Mersey. In 1759 the second Weaver Navigation Act appointed the Trustees of the Weaver Navigation and gave them responsibility for maintaining and operating the route. The opening of the Trent and Mersey Canal in 1777 provided a second route close to the Weaver Navigation for part of its length, but extended further south to the coal mining and pottery industries around Stoke-on-Trent.^[2]

Rather than competing with each other, the owners of the two waterways decided it be more profitable to work together. In 1793 a basin was excavated on the north bank of the Weaver at Anderton that took the river to the foot of the escarpment of the canal, 50 ft (15.2 m) above. The Anderton Basin was owned and operated by the Weaver Navigation Trustees. Facilities were built to trans-ship goods between the waterways, including two cranes, two salt chutes and an inclined plane that was possibly inspired by the much larger Hay Inclined Plane at Coalport. The facilities were extended when a second quay was built in 1801 and a second entrance to the basin was constructed in 1831.^[3]

By 1870 the Anderton Basin was a major interchange for trans-shipping goods in both directions, with extensive warehousing, three double inclined planes and four salt chutes. Trans-shipment was time-consuming and expensive, and the Trustees of the Weaver Navigation decided a link between the waterways was needed to allow boats to pass directly from one to the other. A flight of locks was considered but discarded, mainly because of the lack of a suitable site and the loss of water that would have resulted from using them. In 1870 the Trustees proposed a boat lift between the waterways at the Anderton Basin. The Trustees approached the North Staffordshire Railway Company, owners of the Trent and Mersey Canal, to ask for a contribution towards the cost. When this approach was unsuccessful the Trustees decided to fund the project themselves.^[4]

The Trustees asked their Chief Engineer, Edward Leader Williams, to draw up plans for a boat lift. He settled on a design involving a pair of water-filled caissons that would counterbalance one another and require relatively little power to lift boats up and down. A similar boat lift on the Grand Western Canal, completed in 1835, used chains to connect the caissons via an overhead balance wheel. It had a solid masonry superstructure to support the weight of the loaded caissons. Leader Williams realised that if he used water-filled hydraulic rams to support the caissons their weight would be borne by the rams and their cylinders, buried underground, and a much lighter superstructure could be used. He may have been inspired by inspecting a hydraulic ship lift and graving dock at the Royal Victoria Dock in London, designed by experienced hydraulic engineer Edwin Clark.^[4]

Having decided on a hydraulic ram design, Leader Williams appointed Edwin Clark as principal designer. At that time the Anderton Basin consisted of a cut on the north bank of the Weaver surrounding a small central island. Clark decided to build the boat lift on this island. The wrought iron caissons were 75 ft (22.9 m) long by 15 ft 6 in (4.72 m) wide by 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) deep, and could each accommodate two 72 ft (21.9 m) narrowboats or a barge with a beam of up to 13 feet (4.0 m). Each caisson weighed 90 tons when empty and 252 tons when full of water (because of displacement, the weight is the same with or without boats). Each caisson was supported by a single hydraulic ram consisting of a hollow 50 ft (15.2 m) long cast iron vertical piston with a diameter of 3 ft (0.9 m), in a buried 50 ft (15.2 m) long cast iron vertical cylinder with a diameter of 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m). At river level the caissons sat in a water-filled sandstone lined chamber. Above ground the superstructure consisted of seven hollow cast iron columns which provided guide rails for the caissons and supported an upper working platform, walkways and access staircase. At the upper level the boat lift was connected to the Trent and Mersey canal via a 165 ft (50.3 m) long wrought iron aqueduct, with vertical wrought iron gates at either end.^[5]

In normal operation the cylinders of the hydraulic rams were connected by a 5 in (130 mm) diameter pipe that allowed water to pass between them, thus lowering the heavier caisson and raising the lighter one. To make adjustments at the start and end of a lift either cylinder could be operated independently, powered by an accumulator or pressure vessel at the top of the lift structure, which was kept primed by a 10 horsepower (7.5 kW) steam engine. If necessary, the steam engine and accumulator could operate either hydraulic ram independently to raise the caissons, although in this mode it took about 30 minutes to raise a caisson, as opposed to three minutes in normal operation.^[5]

In October 1871, the Weaver Navigation Trustees held a special general meeting, which resolved ""to consider the desirability of constructing a lift with basins and all other requisite works for the interchange of traffic between the River Weaver and the North Staffordshire Canal at Anderton and of applying to Parliament for an Act to authorise the construction of such works.""

In July 1872, Royal Assent was granted for the Weaver Navigation 1872 Act, which authorised the construction of the boat lift. The contract for its construction was awarded to Emmerson, Murgatroyd & Co. of Stockport and Liverpool. Work started before the end of 1872 and took 30 months. The Anderton Boat Lift was formally opened to traffic on 26 July 1875. The total cost was £48,428 (£4,075,000 at today's prices).^[5]

For five years the boat lift operated successfully, the longest closures being during spells of cold weather when the canal froze over. In 1882 a cast iron hydraulic cylinder burst while the caisson it supported was at canal level with a boat in it. The caisson descended rapidly, but water escaping from the burst cylinder slowed the rate of descent and the water-filled dock at river level softened the impact. No-one was hurt and there was no damage to the lift's superstructure. As a precaution, tests were carried out on the second hydraulic cylinder. During these tests the second cylinder failed too. As a result the boat lift was closed for six months while sections of both cylinders were replaced and the connecting pipework, which was thought to have contributed to their failure, was redesigned.^[6]

The volume of traffic through the lift grew steadily through the 1880s and 1890s, but the hydraulic cylinders continued to cause problems. The gland of one cylinder (where the piston travelled through the cylinder wall) was temporarily repaired in 1887 and replaced in 1891, and the gland of the other cylinder was replaced in 1894. The main cause for concern was corrosion of the pistons. The use of canal water as a working fluid in the hydraulic system and the immersion of the pistons in the wet dock at river level led to corrosion and ""grooving"" of the pistons. Attempts to repair the grooves with copper made matters worse as it reacted electrolytically with the acidic canal water and hastened corrosion of the surrounding iron. In 1897 the lift was converted to use distilled water as its working fluid, slowing corrosion, but not stopping it completely. Over the next few years maintenance and repairs took place with increasing frequency, requiring complete closure of the lift for several weeks or a period of reduced and slower operation with a single caisson.^[7]

type=printed

city/ region=anderton

period=post-war (1945 - present)

publisher=inland waterways association

postage condition=unposted

number of items=single

size=continental/ modern (150x100mm)