Ivy House Lift Bridge Over The Caldon Canal - Abbey Hulton, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 01.350 W 002° 09.633
30U E 556305 N 5875102
This lift bridge carries Ivy House Road over the Caldon Canal.
Waymark Code: WM105ZZ
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/04/2019
Views: 3
The Caldon Canal
"The Caldon Canal opened in 1779 to carry Peak District limestone, from the quarries at Cauldon Low, down to the Potteries and the industrial Midlands. A short branch was built 18 years later connceting the Caldon with the town of Leek. Another branch extended the navigation to Uttoxeter but this lasted only until 1845 when it was closed and replaced with a railway line.
Freight traffic deserted the Caldon shortly after the construction of a parallel railway line and the canal became virtually unnavigable by the 1960s. Enthusiasts were justifiably vocal in clamouring for its restoration and it was brought back into use in 1974.
The Uttoxeter Branch still lies derelict but work has recently started on rebuilding the very first lock. Similarly, the final mile of the Leek Branch is no longer navigable, but plans are now being hatched to restore navigation across a surviving aqueduct further towards the town."
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"John Powell reports that Ivy House Lift Bridge is a steel lift bridge carrying a public road built in 1986 by John Laing Ltd Contractors and designed and supervised by British Waterways In-house Bridge Office the Contract Sum was £141,530.00 2. It was subject to malicious vandalism when first opened over a long period of time by the simple expedient of jamming the yale key lock with paperclip wire which prevented the boater from operating the bridge.
In Septembeer 2014 contractors engaged by the Canal and River Trust began work to fully automate this bridge - with road barriers and warning lights being operated mechanically and linked to a central control system thus avoiding the need for boaters to manually close the barriers. The work was carried out by Kier plc."
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