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| Special web charter feature in
support of PBO’s editorial in the February 2003 issue |
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The Alsace: Automatic Locks
An interactive video article showing how an automatic lock works
Watch the video sequence of passing through the above automatic lock.
First click on the traffic light video to observe the sequence of
lights prior to entering a lock.
Then click on the control post video to see what happens when you
initiate the automatic lock sequence.Lastly click on the bollard video
to see the various techniques of slipping on to the bollards, especially
when they're out of reach!
The whole automatic process is initiated by a radar or photo electric
cell situated some 200m or so from the lock (well outside the envelope
of this Illustration) and prepares the sequence of locks ahead of
you. Once you arrive at the lock the traffic signals will either allow
you to go straight in or instruct you to wait. The interpretation
of these traffic signals can be found in PBO’s CEVNI guide which
can be downloaded free. If instructed to wait, then its best to single
up on the waiting pontoons situated just short of the lock entrance.
Some boats hover outside the lock and can end up in the way off the
exiting traffic so its always best to pull over to one side. Once
the traffic signals allow you to enter, then move swiftly into the
lock and find yourself some bollards to slip up to. Generally the
locks can take up to three boats at a time and the boat which ends
up nearest the head lock (the upstream lock) needs to take extra caution
for the boat needs to be positioned a good metre clear of the gate
to avoid the sill. If the boat hits the sill when the lock is emptying,
then the results could be disastrous.
Midway along the lock is the control post which houses a blue and
a red lift rod. The blue rod is to start the automatic lock process
and the red rod is the emergancy stop. Whoever operates the control
post shouldn’t do so until there’s an all round thumbs up
from the other boats. Don’t give the OK signal until you’re
absolutely happy, especially if you’re the boat next to the head
gate.
Once an all round agreement is achieved, the blue rod on the control
post is lifted smartly upwards for a few seconds and this will start
the lock’s automatic sequence. Should anything go wrong, like
a man overboard or if a boat is caught on the sill, then the red control
rod is lifted to initiate the emergency stop. The lock’s automatic
sequence should immediately stop and call out the lock supervisor
at the same time. Should you encounter any other problems like a broken
down lock, then the intercom housed on the control cabin is used to
speak to the supervisors. These officials zip around to and fro between
the locks under their jurisdiction and can reach you with 5 minutes
or so.
Once the lock has finished its sequence, then the exit gates will
open. Don’t delay in moving out, especially if in a convoy, for
the last boat out could have a hairy time as the klaxtons sound off
to prepare the lock for those boats waiting behind you. The photo
cells located at the lock gates are there to count you in, as well
as count you out. The cells also signals ahead to the next lock to
prepare it for your imminent arrival.
Be prepared for any disaster for if something does go wrong in a lock
it will need a fast response. A very sharp divers knife should be
at hand in the cockpit ready to cut the ropes in one clean blow if
need be.
Some boats like to stop off for lunch at the waiting pontoons situated
off the lock entrance. If you do so yourself, them make your intentions
known to arriving traffic and wave them through. If not, then they
could be mislead into thinking you’re waiting in a queue to enter
the lock.
Remember that commercial traffic has priority and has the right to
jump the queue to any lock. To the unfamiliar, this may appear outrageously
rude and possibly provoke a reaction which may later prove embarrassing.
Going upstream through a lock is the inverse of the above. A crew
member climbs the wall ladder to receive and slip the bow and stern
lines from the two crew left on board. The lock is activated and flooded
by the shore crew member who then simply hops on board when the boat
leaves the flooded lock.
What troubled me in this research, was that we were a family of four
with two very young children and the eldest of 7 couldn’t be
relied upon to be an affective member of the crew- not safely any
way. This meant there was only my wife and myself to do the work of
supposedly three people.
The first half of the cruise was a descent through the locks and naturally
things didn’t go well through the first few locks - it was a
mess, and not really helped by the fact that between the two of us
we had to keep half an eye on Edward, William (3) was not a problem
since he was harnessed on.
We had just entered a flooded lock starboard side on, and whilst struggling
with the bow and stern warps, our saviour came from a French lock
keeper who instantly understood our difficulty. He could see that
the boat was properly warped up at every quarter and so quickly grabbed
the aft starboard warp, led it up to the midship kleat, put a hitch
around it and slipped the remaining tail of the warp around a bollard.
Within a brief few moments, he had simply thrown away all that was
said in the manuals and text books. "No need for bow and stern
lines", he said, and the boat was simply held to the wall by
a single slip amidships. What was written in the manuals for a crew
of three, could now be done by one. From then onwards descending the
canal locks was a singe.
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| The conventional technique using a crew
of 3 |
The single handed technique |
Going upstream and ascending the locks presented a new problem for
us. This time we were entering empty locks with 3m high walls, sometimes
higher, making the bollards well out of reach. Sending Louise ashore
up the wall ladder was out of the question for I daren’t leave
the con to handle the warps. From the corner of our eyes we could
see some very skilled crews from other boats, throw up a coil of line
towards a selected bollard where it would specularly loop itself around
the bollard and form a slip. We tried to imitate this to no avail
and quickly got ourselves no where. Alas! the French showed us the
solution again. Still maintaining the midship warp arrangement, Louise
stood at the flybridge and placed this warp in the crook of the boat
hook and carefully extended out the pole of the boat hook whilst still
holding the tail end of the warp in her other hand. The warp is then
simply placed over the bollard and the boat hook is then withdrawn.
Louise then passed the slip for me to hold whilst remaining at the
con and she did the same procedure with the bow line, but this time
holding on to the bow slip herself. This arrangement meant that every
bollard was within reach and without the need for a single crew member
to go ashore. Unlike a descending lock, we were slipped fore and midships
which is necessary in a flooding lock for the inrush of water is very
turbulent and can knock the boat about a bit. The more boats in a
flooding lock the better and easier it is. Once the lock is flooded,
then the warps are simply flicked off the bollards and away you go.
This technique showed that a team of two can negotiate the canals
very easily.
Using the boathook as a means of placing the warps around the bollards
which are kept out of reach- typical when entering an empty lock. |
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