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Claverton Pumping Station |
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Return to Claverton Pumping Station home page Rebuilding the depressing control sluices The main control for the waterwheel is achieved through the use of a curved depressing sluice, so named as it drops and lets the water run over the top instead of the more conventional sluices which raise and admit water from underneath. At the end of the running season in 2005 it became clear that there was a serious problem with this structure and a close inspection showed that a complete replacement of the woodwork was required. Prior to the work being undertaken it was necessary to design and build a dam. Originally this would not have been required as the pond can be drained down by using the sluices at the head of the mill pond, however British Waterways fitted the electric pumps which now feed the canal on the downstream side of the sluices. This means that when the pond is drained down the canal cannot be filled by the electric pumps. The design, construction and installation of the dam was a large project in itself - it has its own web page here. Shown here is the process for the first side, bear in mind the whole process had to be repeated for the second side of the sluice! In the end we were unable to run for the whole of the 2006 season but everything was back in place and we had a successful trial run before Easter 2007. Page 1: Inspection and dismantling of the existing sluices Page 2: Constructing the new sluice Page 3: Installing the new sluice |
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