Irlam Locks Traditional Cache

Care must be taken with children when crossing the busy A57
and close by the very deep waters of the Ship Canal

Like all the other locks on the canal Irlam locks rest on a foundation of solid sandstone rock with concrete lying on top.
Below the water level the lock walls are built of concrete but are lined above the water with brick and blue facing brick. All fender courses, copings and corners of the gate chambers are of dressed Cornish granite.
The lock gates built of greenheart wood, a wood so heavy that it sinks in water and which is so indestructible that it is considered superior to steel. The various sections of the gates are tied together with iron plates and bolts.
All the lock gates are constructed to move on rollers for ease of opening and are operated by hydraulic rams attached to chains, the rams and associated cylinders themselves being fixed into chambers within the lock walls.

The two locks here are 600 x 65ft (183m x 20m) and 350 x 45ft (107m x 14m) in size and provide a lift of 16 ft (5m) and with the larger lock being situated on the Irlam side of the canal.

The locks here were the scene of a major incident during March 1969 when the 12,000 ton Manchester Liners vessel Manchester Courage, outward bound for Montreal, rammed and burst open the lower lock gates of the large lock, causing the water level to fall substantially between Irlam and the locks at Barton.
The damage was so great that all ships further up the canal were trapped for a period of five weeks while the gates were replaced and the water lever raised to it's normal level.