My family is related through my paternal grandmother to the Gardner and Clark families who established early brickworks in Auckland's Hobsonville and New Lynn areas. The European Clark family threw up a number of excellent engineers of whom Edwin Clark was one.
One of his specialities was designing locks and boat lifts. In 1875 he was asked to design a lock system linking the Trent & Mersey Canal with the River Weaver. There is a 50 feet 4 inch difference between the two systems.
The link was needed to enable narrow boat barges to transport salt from the nearby salt mining town of Northwich to markets throughout the UK and the World.
Clark realised that, because of the huge numbers of boats which would use the locks, such a system would result in the Trent & Mersey Canal running out of water. Thus he designed the Anderton Boat Lift which, using hydraulics, lifted salt laden narrow boats from the River Weaver over 50 feet to the Trent Mersey Canal.
They were lifted in a water tight caission which was counter-balancd by another identical caission full of water which slowly fell as the it raised the boat. The lift worked faultlessly for a number of years until the polluted and salt ridden water of the Weaver finally corroded the huge cast hydraulic pistons.
In 1902 another Engineer (Sanar) designed an overhead electric gantry which moved the caissions. This worked until 1982 when the lift was partially dismantled and left to decay. Local historians later sent a petition to the government and money was given to help to restore the Lift for the tourist and local narrow boat trade. Additionally lottery money was also allocated.
The lift was restored very early in the 21st Century using stainless steel pistons, and now once again works largely as Edwin Clark designed, albiet with the aid of computers. The pistons were cast in the same German factory as Clark's original iron ones at a cost of £1,000,000 each.
Sanar's overhead system is still there for informational purposes only, as are his strengthening
"A" braces on the sides of the lift. In contrast to today's structure Clark's Lift was much simpler.
The present lift operates using Clark's original idea of two hydraulically operated cassions.
While the modern lift requires 4 people to operate it (2 computer operators and 2 lift operators on the lift itself) Clark's original lift needed only 1 man! Maybe this is an example of the contribution that Health & Safety makes to the employment figures.
In its whole history not one life has ever been lost. Clark went on to design and construct 7 more such lifts in Belgium and France.
I was able to ride down in the lift which uses the same original cassions designed by Edwin Clark. The lift is an extremely popular tourist attraction. The day I visited the boat rides on the lift were booked out and I was lucky to get the one remaining seat on one of the rides.
More Information:
