Work required on Topsham Lock
Work needs to be carried out to an old disused lock on Exeter Ship Canal, the City Council has revealed.
Steel sheet piling which was installed in the early 1970s to prevent the waters of the Canal escaping into the River Exe is showing signs of age and needs to be repaired.
A more detailed inspection including ground investigation and access improvements which will lead to remedial work has been authorised to take place this month, under delegated powers.
Now members of the City Council’s Executive will, on 12 September, be asked to look at plans for the future of the lock.
These include:
- Replacing the existing steel sheet piling
- A more permanent solution
- Or the full reinstatement of the working lock.
Topsham Lock used to provide access to the 450-year-old canal from the estuary of the River Exe.
In the early 1970s it was removed from service by blocking it off with steel sheet piles when the lock gates were in need of replacement. This solution was chosen to allow reinstatement of the lock sometime in the future.
A recent planned inspection by engineers from Devon County Council revealed some corrosion and buckling of the metal structures used to block off the lock and retain water in the canal.
Cllr Stephen Brimble, Lead Councillor for Place, said: “We are very much looking at this as an urgent priority. There is no denying that work needs to be carried out but we need to establish what the future is for the lock.”
As it stands the lock is no longer in use, with boats entering the Canal further downstream at Turf Locks.
Any works to make repairs to the lock or the existing piling works would require an access road being put in from the Countess Wear Sewage Treatment Works. At the moment the only way to get to the lock is on foot or by bike.
To allow a track to be built, some tree felling – mostly diseased Ash trees - would need to take place. There would also be the loss of a small 4m section of reed beds. The initial works have been approved to a value of up to £100k but the overall estimated cost for replacing the work completed in the 1970s would be around £500,000.
“We have to do something,” stressed Cllr Brimble. “Failure to act could mean the draining of the Canal between Double Locks and Turf Locks.”
