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A Brief HistoryBy Suzanne Smith

The need for a boat lift between the River Weaver andthe Trent & Mersey Canal had arisen over one centurybefore it was finally built. The transport of cargo,especially salt, coal and clay, between the RiverWeaver and the Trent & Mersey Canal was provingproblematic due to a height difference of 50 feetbetween the two waterways. The usual solution wasto unload the cargo from the boat on one waterwayand reload onto another boat on the other waterway.This process of moving tons of cargo by hand fromone boat to another was slow, even though primitiverailways had been laid between the two waterways. In1872 Royal Assent was given to enable constructionof a boat lift and eminent engineer Edwin Clark wasbrought in to design it. Anderton boat lift was finallybuilt in 1875, it was the world's first.

Clark's solution to the height problem was to builda hydraulic lift that would move the boats from thecanal to the river, and vice versa, without the needto unload. A large gantry was constructed from theriver basin to the top of the valley. Two large counter-balanced and water filled containers or `Caissons',driven by huge hydraulic rams, were then insertedside by side within the gantry. As one Caisson wasat canal level the other would be at river level. Byincreasing the volume of water in the top Caissonthe extra weight would cause it to descend and raisethe opposite Caisson from the river. A steam-driven`accumulator' was used to facilitate the last few feet

of the lifting process, in bringing the upper caisson tothe aqueduct.

The cogs from the 1908 electrical lift had beenremoved from the top of the lift after it closed in 1983

to reduce the weight on the corroded structure.

In .1999 Terry Atkinson was photographed standingby these massive pieces of engineering history.

www.Ijftdjrectory.com

1875 Structure

• The original structure is approximately 60ft high

Overall.

• The difference in height between the two water levels

is 50ft.

• The Liftis85ftin length.

t TheAqueduct is l65ft in length.

i The original structure is 49ft wide.

Each tank weighs 91 tonnes empty and 252 tonneswhen full of water.

Each tank is 75ft long, 15'6" wide and 9'6" deep at thecentre and will hold 2 narrow boats or 1 barge.

The Trent and Mersey canal at Brownhills, c.1930

The use of river water to work the boat lift provedto be a problem. By 1904 serious corrosion haddamaged the lift's hydraulics and a major overhaulwas required. A radical solution was proposed, toconvert the lift from water and steam to Electric

power. The hydraulic rams were removed anda massive assembly of shafts, gears, weights,wheels and pulleys was erected over the lift. Withthe addition of an electric motor the modified liftwas completed in 1908. The boat lift continued tooperate successfully during the first half of the 20thcentury, however, the use of Britain's waterways forcommercial transporting was on the decline and bythe latter half of the century the boat lift was usedmainly for leisure travel. Routine maintenance wascancelled in the 1970s due to cost constraints andin 1983 the Anderton boat lift was closed after asafety inspection revealed serious deterioration ofthe structure.

i44 -H1113`IATII.RE -Page 31

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AI®!A SJO}!SIA V

ln 2003 a new 2 storey operations centre wasopened. The upper level of the centre housesthe welcome desk, ticket booking facility, cafe and

gift shop, whilst the lower level is dedicated to aninteractive exhibition for the lift. The exhibition is

fascinating, covering the history of the lift and therestoration work. In addition the lift control console

it situated within the exhibition so that you can watch

the operators at work. This is particularly interesting

as this huge Victorian mechanism is now run from abank of high tech computers.

I had hoped to actually go on the boat lift during my

visit but unfortunately the next trip was already fully

booked. Anderton has a specially designed glasstop boat, the Edwin Clarke (named after the architectwho designed the original lift). The 30 minute ride on

the Edwin Clarke takes 56 visitors at a time throughthe boat lift while the boat master talks you throughits history.

The lift control console.

A model of the 1875 lift structure.

www.Ijftdjrectory.com

The interactive exhibition.

In addition to the operations centre, the ground has a

play area for children and a special maze constructedfrom the old counterweights that used to hang from

the lifts. Luckily it was a splendid day when I visited

so I spent lunch al fresco visualising a bygone era in

peace and tranquillity.I

The children's play area features a working model of a waterway.

The commemorative plaque thanking the manyfundraiser who helped restore the Boat Lift

i44 -13IIHV^T-IIRI -I.age 37