Lock Paddle Gates

From the beginnings of the English inland waterways in the late 18th century, the abilities of great engineers such as Brindley and Telford, were severly tested in the design of efficient lock gates. The success of their designs then, and the fact that they still predominate today's canal system is a tribute to their engineering genius and materials knowledge. Elm has been traditionally used for lock paddle gates, as it was known that the wood of the Elm did not rot when immersed in water. This feature, coupled with its capacity to become slippery when wet made it the perfect material for paddle gates.

However, since the advent of destructive fungal infections culminating in Dutch Elm Disease in 1965, Elm cultivation has become difficult if not impossible in many parts of the world.

Rather than use wood from the few remaining sources of Elm, British Waterways took the environmentally friendly decision to look for alternative materials.

Rayburn were known to have engineers with considerable materials knowledge and the design and development capability to assist in such projects and were asked to help. After a research programme to isolate a material which compared favourably with Elm, a reconstituted plastic was eventually chosen.

The problems of designing a twentieth century paddle gate which preserved the visual impact of its wooden predecessor were then solved by the Rayburn design team in close co-operation with British Waterways engineers.

Following product development and installation trials, these plastic paddle gates are now widely used throughout the United Kingdom on both lock gates and culverts, offering the ideal technical and environmental alternative to Elm wood.

The success of Rayburn Paddle Gates not only demonstrates the company's depth of materials knowledge, its design, development and manufacturing capabilities - all within the stringent quality standard of BS EN ISO 9001 - 2000 but also its determination to emulate and advance the tradition of great British engineering.

If you have a special product requirement please contact our technical sales team who will be only too happy to advise.