At Lock 21 on the Trent Severn sits the massive Peterborough Lock, the largest lift lock in the world. Captain Charles has been watching U-Tube videos about Peterborough for the past ten years, and we were both excited and a bit intimidated about trusting ourselves and our boat to the laws of gravity within the lock. We took a sneak peak the day before our transit to see how it worked.
Peterborough Lift Lock
The lock actually lifts the boats 65 feet from one elevation to another in 90 seconds. It’s operating mechanism uses only water, valves, and gravity, with no hydraulics like other locks. Two huge, steel, counter-balanced “bathtubs” are filled with water, and boats go into one of the tubs. When the gates close, an extra foot of water is added to the top tub, making it just heavier enough to cause it to descend and causing the bottom tub to rise. Adagio locked up with three other boats, just after a local cruise ship filled with passengers locked up. Amazing!