driffield navigation guide

WHINHILL LOCK – RESTORATION 2005-05-01

Assessment

Whinhill Lock was last used in about 1951 and had deteriorated over the years.   The upper gates had been replaced in about 1958 and were still watertight although too decayed to be re-usable.  The balance beams were very short.  The lower gates had been removed in 1958 and not replaced.  The brickwork condition was fair, although a lot of re-pointing was needed and there were limited areas where bricks were missing or needed replacing. There was some vegetation growing from the joints especially under the stone copings, and a thorn tree had a good hold. There was no bywash, nor stop plank grooves.

 

 Temporary upper dam used 68 one ton bags of sand and gravel and a large black plastic sheet.  It was trimmed using small sand bags.  The 3rd (bottom) layer of bags is completeley hidden in the silt.

 

 The lock gates were opened for the first time since they were installed in 1958   

 

 Weeds and even trees growing in the lock walls are a major cause of deterioration

 

Lock wall before work started

 

 

Work just starting on the upper temporary dam

 

Upper gates before work started

 

Work required

New lock gates and brickwork re-pointing require that the lock be pumped dry.  But there is a considerable flow of water in the Driffield, and so this had to be stopped and bypassed.  The owner of the adjacent fish farm increased the flow through the farm as much as he could, but that still left at least as much again – too much sensibly to pump.  Temporary dams had to be installed above and below the lock to enable the stop plank grooves to be cut and stop planks installed.  The lock gate manufacturer, Callis Mills, suggested that  the dams be built using 1 ton bags of sand and gravel, and a large plastic sheet – this turned out to be cheaper than a fabric dam or a clay dam when allowing for re-use of the bags at the next lock.

 

Whinhill Lock bywash under construction 2005: The bywash under construction in March 2005. One more pipe length was added to link it to the temporay dam

 A 750mm diameter bywash was installed, vertical grooves were then cut in the brickwork and the stop planks installed.  Again, lining these with a plastic sheet minimised leakage.  The lock was pumped dry and silt removed.  A close inspection revealed some additional problems – the lock floor was timber planking, mainly rotten – on heavy timber cross beams which are in very good condition.  The major problem was around the sill for the bottom gates, and this had to be totally broken out and replaced with timber and filled with concrete.  Fortunately additional funds were made available to help with this unexpected cost.  The bottom gate quoins were stone carved with a concave face.  This was in poor condition near the bed and had to be cut back to enable cast iron quoins to be installed.

The gate paddle gear were cast – fortunately we have the patterns and so far have made sets for 16 gates with them.  The gates have been installed, and now we are hoping to get a working party together to build the headwall for the bywash.  When this is complete we will be able to remove the temporary dams and stop planks and open the lock.

 

Whinhill Lock new lower gates installation 2005: The new lower gates being installed in 2005

Next task will be to rebuild the bridge over the lock as a swing bridge.

 

Finance

The work has been carried out with the aid of funds from the Driffield Area Partnership and from LeaderPlus.  It has cost, so far, just over £80,000

 

Finished job

 

The Driffield Navigation Commissioners gratefully record their thanks to

• Finance - Driffield Area Partnership; Leader Plus
• Contractors -  Wold Construction;  Simpson Civil Engineering;  Callis Mills; T H Dick (Hull); Ray Thompson; R Hood
• Volunteers – from the DNAA and the occasional passer by who got roped in; Driffield Diving Club