River Boating Forum

The huge sluices on the Trent at Holme.



The lock approach with the barrier.




The resident Cormorants on the barrier with the control tower of the National Watersports Centre in the background.

It looks a very big weir boom, Are booms of this size safe to hold a 28ton boat?

Jolly well hope so!!!!
As far as I know, the barriers here have never had to be used to stop a boat, although the barrier at the next lock downstream has stopped a few boats from going over the edge, including a large(60ft) metal hulled coaster type boat when he got it wrong and his engines failed.

The boom chain looks to be 4in links.

They seem to be no use against GRP cruisers, you may have read my other post about a boat from our mooring going over the weir. I have always thought that if there was no weir boom a narrowboats draft would be sufficent to to hold the boat from going over the weir?

I think these would be ok, they're pretty big. There's a lot of BW activity on occasions and these booms should stop their big stuff, tugs, workboats etc.
The boom at Stoke, next lock down, stopped a GRP cruiser last month when his engine failed coming out the lock. So they do work!

Yeh they probably will be ok in normal conditions but the boat went over the weir when we had the summer floods.

Was there no boom? Flood conditions should be when these things come into there own!
Mind you, that was some flooding!!!

Yep there was a boom. The boat was moored about 20ft away so didn't have time to pick up speed. It just "dunked" under and popped back up the other side. One of the moorers has a video i will try and get it posted.