From their Facebook page:
"It is with sincere regret that due to severe mechanical lock failure on the eastern inner gate, that for reasons of safety we shall not be operating the lock gates until further notice.
We have been working with the council who plan on sending divers down ASAP to inspect the extent of the damage and then formulate a plan to repair."
The last time the lock was shut for this type of repair it was shut for around 12 weeks. If that is the case this time it could be a long and frustrating season for some people locked up in the marina. No doubt this will be scuppering plenty of bank holiday plans!
I suspect they will have to pull their finger out pretty quick with this, considering Hull are hosting the city of culture this year. We have heard the 12 week figure being banded around also, that will cut well into the boating season. It will have serious ramifications to the sailing schools and the Cat Zero programme.
ReplyDeleteI suspect the 12 weeks is based on how long it took to repair last time it broke.
ReplyDeleteIt's a seriously big engineering job working on those large radial gates and they will be restricted by the tides as well.
Hopefully they can fix it much quicker for those stuck inside. If not it will be eating into the boating season for them!
Following an inspection of the Marina lock gates it has been concluded this morning that the swivel pin support bracket bolts have sheered and that this could not have been foreseen during our regular maintenance checks.
ReplyDeleteWe are in the process of fast-tracking the appointment of specialist engineers to work on repairing the lock gates as soon as possible.
The stop logs (cotter dam seals) will be worked on and set in place on the 3rd – 4th of May (Wednesday-Thursday) and works on repairing and improving the bracket pins will commence on the Friday the 5th of May.
Prior to this work commencing the inner lock gates will be set open allowing for us to grant a free flow lock out on the first tide on the 1st of May (Monday) for any vessels who wish to exit the marina until the work is complete. We will provide a window of one hour either side of HW which equates to 0932-1132.
We are doing our very best to ensure these works are done as quickly as possible but due to the specialist works required it is estimated it may take two to three weeks.