Originally Posted by
Mizter T
In years past, the cross-channel day trip of choice was to Boulogne, an interesting ancient town 30km south down the coast from Calais. Unfortunately since 2010 Boulogne hasn't had any cross-channel ferry services, which is a shame.
Ouch! That is a lengthy wait... for just one ship? I wonder if there's any sort of timetable.
It was a double-riser lock, IIRC. If you can imagine how much water it takes to fill a lock catering to ocean-going vessels, you can probably imagine how slow the whole process is.
From a quick Google, most of the swing bridges work on schedules, but those over locks tend to be operated on demand. It's not like it's a major route or anything - the path along the sea wall is barely there!