December 9th 2013
7.45 a.m. and the pump is ready to go. (Note the number plate.)
The aim was to fill this space …..
….. and this one. The inner section is the lock itself. The bits of rubble are to help with the fill to save concrete. The rubble left in the lock got chucked in as the concrete was poured.
The truck on the right is the pump. It is controlled by the guy in front of it who has a control box. He can vary the rate of pumping and the angle of the boom. You can see the concrete issuing from the nozzle at the end of the boom.
Dave France and George Rogers direct the nozzle by pulling on ropes …..
….. they have to work together.
All is surveyed by Dave Kiddy, who was constantly ringing Right Mix to find out when the next truck was coming.
Walter Homer and George Bunting use a vibrating poker to shake excess air out of the concrete to get a more solid set.
The pump truck is on the left. The one on the right holds 8 cubic metres of concrete.
This gets poured into the pump truck which pumps it along the long boom.
Altogether 98 cubic metres was pumped. The biggest truck held 8 cubic metres, others held 6, 4 or 3. This meant a very long day, so floodlights were brought out.
Pumping by moonlight – how romantic!
It began to get darker …..
….. but George was still using the vibrating poker.
At 5.30 p.m.the last load arrived. You can see that it has nearly filled the space.
The pump driver could just about see Dave’s signals.
Here are the heroes who put in a 12 hour shift; George, Colin, George, Tina, Dave, Terry and Dave.
Roy and Walter had had to leave before this was taken.
There is still lots to do, we estimate that this is about a third of the concrete that will eventually be required.
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please click here.
December 10th. The following day and this is how it looks.
Compare these to the ones at the top of the page.
The large recesses on either side are where the bottom lock gates will go when open.
The smaller recesses are for the lock ladders.
The blockwork that you see here will be underwater. From here on up, the lock walls will be faced in brick.