Lock Lane Bridge Over The Derby Canal - Sandiacre, UK
Posted by: dtrebilc
N 52° 55.033 W 001° 17.117
30U E 615290 N 5864438
This single arch stone bridge carries Lock Lane over the former Derby Canal.
Waymark Code: WM118GC
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/06/2019
Views: 1
The Derby Canal
"The Derby Canal ran 14 miles (23 km) from the Trent and Mersey Canal at Swarkestone to Derby and Little Eaton, and to the Erewash Canal at Sandiacre, in Derbyshire, England. The canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1793 and was fully completed in 1796. It featured a level crossing of the River Derwent in the centre of Derby. An early tramroad, known as the Little Eaton Gangway, linked Little Eaton to coal mines at Denby. The canal's main cargo was coal, and it was relatively successful until the arrival of the railways in 1840. It gradually declined, with the gangway closing in 1908 and the Little Eaton Branch in 1935. Early attempts at restoration were thwarted by the closure of the whole canal in 1964. Since 1994, there has been an active campaign for restoration spearheaded by the Derby and Sandiacre Canal Trust and Society. Loss of the Derwent crossing due to development has resulted in an innovative engineering solution called the Derby Arm being proposed, as a way of transferring boats across the river."
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The Bridge
The bridge is very close to the northern end of the canal near to the junction with the Erewash Canal. It is next to a lock that had been infilled and of February 2019 started to be renovated.
"When the canal was abandoned this section of the route was gifted to the County Council, who used the lock chamber as a land fill site for mills demolished nearby in Long Eaton. Lock Lane bridge had the up stream parapet removed (now stored at Langley Mill Basin) to ease access to the footpath created on the line of the Canal and to Sandiacre Lock on the Erewash Canal. The bridge surface has also been reduced by almost a foot in depth as can be seen by the base parapet stones projecting from the bottom of the remaining parapet. Shuttering was erected to prevent water and infill moving between the Derby and Erewash Canals and concrete placed around it including in the bridge hole. Whilst this may have originally filled the hole it has now subsided and plays no part in supporting the bridge."
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