<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by WHBM:
Now no one would believe you could have an elevator that you could sail a sizeable boat into, be taken up 50 feet, and then sail out into a canal at a higher level. That's just ridiculous!
Anderton Boat Lift</font>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by monahos:
Only in England 
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Not at all. There's the
Peterborough (65') and
Kirkfield (49') Lift Locks on the Trent-Severn waterway (which links Lakes Ontario and Huron),
100 years old this year.
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The first hydraulic balance lock built by Edwin Clark in 1874 at Anderton, on the River Weaver, in Cheshire, England, was followed by similar locks built in Belgium and France. Engineer Frank Turner recommended such locks for the ill-fated Huron and Ontario ship canal in 1879 and raised the notion again as a member of the Trent Valley Canal Commission. The challenge at Peterborough was to create a device for lifting a vessel from one level to another without wasting water and with one efficient mechanical lock replacing a bottleneck series of standard locks that resembled giant steps.
Richard B. Rogers, as superintendent of the Trent Canal, latched on to the hydraulic lock concept and greatly expanded its possibilities, suggesting that a hydraulic lock could raise or lower a vessel 70 feet in the same time as a typical lock could raise or lower one a mere 7 feet. He figured such a lock would reduce construction costs, alleviate concerns over water supply on the canal, and be more efficient. Rogers actually designed the lock before he travelled to Belgium and France to see how existing models worked.
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On another note, I always liked the big old lifts in the deeper stations of the London Tube, such as Russell Square.
[This message has been edited by Mehdron (edited Mar 16, 2004).]