Good Morning!!  I have been invited to join the crew of Nearly Perfect and Spirit on a walk to the Peterborough Lift Lock this rainy day.  I decided to make this a separate posting because I have pictures that are very interesting.

Wayne captured a fantastic sunrise in Peterborough, ON

The Lift Lock is about 1.5 miles away from the marina.  We walked across the bridge to the other side, of course.  I like the mosaic signage and artwork on the bridge.

Peterborough Bridge

On the Peterborough Bridge looking toward the Marina – a drizzly day

This wondrous structure is the Peterborough Lift Lock.  What is so special about it?  The first think you should notice is the big rectangle up in the air on the right of the picture.  See it?  Well, in the past locks, we have driven Always Home into a lock in which the water moves up or down.  We stay on top of the water and get carried along for the ride.  Like riding a tide or wave.  Remember all those cables, lines and ropes I have had to snag along the way?  This lock is different.

Peterborough Lift Lock – lifts the water and the boat up/down 65 feet

This Lift Lock is the largest “Lift Lock” in the world!!  You drive your boat into the rectangle lock.  Tie to a cable.  The lock or chamber raises or lowers the boat AND the water surrounding the boat!!  Peterborough Lift Lock will be raising us 65 feet on Monday.  (And lower someone else 65 feet on the other side.)

The Peterborough Lift Lock works using physics.   The rectangle lock chamber is 140 feet long.  It holds 228, 000 gallons of water.  The pistons raise and lower like a see-saw.  One lock will lower as the other lock is raised.  To make the top lock go down – and raise the bottom lock – the top lock has 1 extra foot of water added to it.  The imbalance between the two locks causes the top to fall and the bottom to raise.  Pretty simple??  In a matter of 2-5 minutes and the ride is over.

Over 109 years old and still working.

I cannot imagine 20,000 cubic meters of concrete.  I mixed a wheel barrel at a time in my back yard which was about a 1 cubic foot.   Just amazing.

History of the Peterborough Lift Lock

Pictures of the construction at the Peterborough Visitor Center.  We enjoyed our visit there.  They have a video of how the lock works in one room.  A movie in another.  The normal gift shop.  Very friendly people to announce whenever another boat is going into the lock for visitors to scurry out and watch the boats go up/down.

We will be going UP on Monday.  Wayne doesn’t like heights so he will probably not look out over the side.  Me?  I may have to go onto the fly bridge to get a really good shot.  <just kidding>  I won’t have time.  What an engineering marvel.

Night Skies in Peterborough Marina