Barton  Locks.

Like all the other locks on the canal these are built  on a foundation of solid sandstone rock with concrete on top. Below the water level the lock walls are built of concrete but are lined above water level with brick and a blue facing brick. There are two locks here, the largest on the north side of the canal measuring 600 x 65 feet, and the smaller one measuring 350 x 45 feet.  All fender courses, copings, and the corners of the gate chambers are of dressed cornish granite.

The lock gates themselves are built of greenheart wood  with the various sections being tied together with iron plates and bolts. 

The  gates are constructed to move on rollers for ease of opening and are operated by hydraulic rams attached to chains,  the rams themselves are fixed in chambers within the lock walls

Water enters the locks by means of sluices positioned in tunnels within the walls and there is also a sluice between the locks which can be brought into use if there is a need to save water. The inlet sluices in each lock have four openings intended to spread the water  flow and so avoid currents within the lock. The locks here have a rise of fifteen feet.

Built between the locks and the Davyhulme side of the canal are four sluice gates which are used to control the water level on the upper reaches of the canal,  these sluices are built to the same design as those at Irlam locks.

Barton locks are unique on the canal in that they produce electricity for the national grid. The hydro electric plant installed here produces around 3,200 MWh annually, enough power to meet the needs of 600 homes and eliminates the 914 tons of carbon dioxide, 55 tons of sulphur dioxide and 6 tons of nitrogen dioxide that would otherwise be emitted from a conventional power station.

The generating station is located within an old pump house built between the smaller lock and the sluices and took eight months to build, it was opened in 1994.

The turbine was built by Newmills Hydro in Northern Ireland, and was originally operated by Combined Power Systems Ltd,  a wholly owned subsidiary of Norweb. From July 1999 the majority of the power produced here has been bought by the Co-operative Bank.

Further information can be obtained from http://www.dti.gov.uk/NewReview/nr38/html/nffo_case_study.html or  from  http://www.newmillshydro.freeserve.co.uk/barton.html

Approaching the locks outbound.

see also davyhulme.htm