How to Jack it in
How to Jack it in
by: Will F.
The ordered weather arrived on Monday…nothing quite so dispiriting as to be down in a lock and the rain adding to existing water problems! Using various trolleys the Jack posts and paddle frames were transported from the Depot to the side of Pike Lock where a specially hired new gantry had been installed to help with the installation.
One frame was carefully lowered into place, and the fixing holes aligned and drilled. The process uses fast setting resin to fix studded rods with nuts holding the frame in place. The tricky bit is aligning the drill accurately so after insertion, the protruding studs align with the holes in the galvanised steel frame. If the holes are wrong, replacing the frame once the resin is set is problematic! The mating surfaces of lock side and paddle frame are covered in water resistant mastic and the nuts tightened up.
Stage two is lowering the heavy jack post and aligning the projecting tenon onto the groove on top of the Paddle Frame, Drilling the (larger) stud holes and repeating the resin. Too little resin and the studs wont hold, too much and the extra squishes out making a very hard lump to remove after the 40 minute curing time!
These jack posts are slightly larger than the originals, so Duncan was called upon to saw through a small piece of edging stone making the slot wider to align the post.
Stage three is repeating the exercise on the other lock side…trying to get the timing right to optimise use of the resin and curing intervals.
Next week we mount the lifting gear and align the con rods with the paddles. We have pre-ordered the weather….!
