Emergency repairs carried out at canal lock gate near Banbury

The damaged canal gate on lock 27 in Little Bourton was discovered by the Canal and River Trust back in February.

The lock gate’s collar and heel (a metal band at the top of the gate that attaches it to the lock) had been snapped, and the gate was at risk of falling off.

To prevent the lock from becoming unusable, the Canal and River Trust employed the services of waterways and marine engineering specialists The Rothen Group to fix the problem and make the canal accessible again.

Within a week, The Rothen Group had produced a new fabricated collar and heel, transported it by crane boat to Lock 27 and replaced the old collar and heel with the new one.

Wayne Moore, the reactive team manager at the Canal and River Trust, said: “The team from The Rothen Group were nothing but professional, attentive, and totally mucked in with all aspects of what was a very delicate and stressful operation. Our main goal was to reopen the canal as soon as possible so that the impact on the boating community was limited.

“Thanks to The Rothen Group’s experienced fabrication team and being able to redirect a crane boat that happened to be in the region to the site in Little Bourton, we were able to achieve this.

“I know I can always put my trust in The Rothen Group to help us in these situations, so solve it as soon as possible.”

The repair needed to be carried out as quickly as possible so as to not cause a blockage to boaters using the canal.

Dan Harding, head of marine plant hire at The Rothen Group, said: “Due to the positive and longstanding relationship that The Rothen Group has with the Canal and River Trust and because we have our specialist fleet of crane boats on waterways up and down the country at all times, the emergency was able to be attended to quickly.

“We were able to respond to the situation swiftly and provide what the Canal and River Trust needed in this urgent situation and are very pleased that we could help resolve the issue.”