29 locks were in the caen hill flight.
29 locks were in the caen hill flight.
how many locks in the caen hill flight?
29
the stretch between reading and newbury was completed on 17 july 1990; at a ceremony held at monkey marsh lock several boats competed to be the first craft through. concerns about the adequacy of the water supply still remained when queen elizabeth ii formally reopened the canal on 8 august 1990. the queen was able to travel on the trust's boat, "the rose of hungerford", through locks 44 and 43 on the caen hill flight, breaking a ceremonial tape between them. the shortage of water was addressed in 1996 by the installation of new back pumps at the flight of 29 locks at caen hill in devizes, at a cost of £1 million. the pumps raise water at a rate of per hour (380 litres per second). in october 1996, the kennet & avon canal partnership attracted the largest single national lottery grant awarded by the heritage lottery fund, £25 million towards a £29 million project, to complete the restoration and to make it operational, sustainable and accessible for the enjoyment of future generations. the work funded included complete rebuilding of foxhangers lock and bridge at caen hill, replacement of lock gates at seend and crofton, channel lining at claverton, embankment repairs at martinslade, improvements at claverton pumping station and dredging at various sites. the restoration's completion was celebrated in may 2003 by a visit from hrh prince charles, but upgrading and maintenance continues. between 2002 and 2004 the dundas aqueduct, which had been relined with polythene and concrete in 1984 without disturbing a colony of bats living under the aqueduct, was further restored by the replacement of engineering bricks used by the great western railway with bath stone to match the original work.
kennet and avon canal
loosely, a flight of locks is simply a series of locks in close-enough proximity to be identified as a single group. for many reasons, a flight of locks is preferable to the same number of locks spread more widely: crews are put ashore and picked up once, rather than multiple times; transition involves a concentrated burst of effort, rather than a continually interrupted journey; a lock keeper may be stationed to help crews through the flight quickly; and where water is in short supply, a single pump can recycle water to the top of the whole flight. the need for a flight may be determined purely by the lie of the land, but it is possible to group locks purposely into flights by using cuttings or embankments to "postpone" the height change. examples: caen hill locks, devizes.
lock (water navigation)