Canal safety gates or canal air raid protection gates are structures that were installed on canals specifically to reduce or prevent flood damage to dwellings, factories, etc. in the event of aqueducts, canal banks, etc. being breached either through natural events or by enemy action during wars, insurgency, sabotage, etc.Air Raid Protection Gates
''canalrivertrust.org.uk'' They sometimes have a secondary function in regard of canal maintenance work.Scottish Canals – Safety Gates – Turning Back the Clock
''wccscotland.com'' Substantial structures or simple 'stop gates' or 'stop planks' were used to prevent flooding and were usually only put in place when air raid warnings were given.Waterways at War, p. 20
''canalrivertrust.org.uk''

Introduction

Large volumes of stored water have considerable destructive potential and where structures such as canals run on embankments above low lying built up areas or where aqueducts exist, appropriate safety precautions were taken either as a war-time contingencyCanmore - Firhill Basin
''canmore.org.uk'' or at the time of construction. These 'canal safety gates' or 'canal air raid protection gates (ARPG)' were constructed and installed in regard to the scale of the danger posed and ranged from simple wooden planks known as 'stop gates' or 'stop planks' to more massive constructions built of concrete and steel such as the safety gates built on the

Forth and Clyde Canal The Forth and Clyde Canal is a canal opened in 1790, crossing central Scotland; it provided a route for the seagoing vessels of the day between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. This allow ...

near

Stockingfield Junction Stockingfield Junction is a canal junction which lies between Maryhill and Ruchill in Glasgow, Scotland. It opened in 1777,Hume, p.162 and closed in 1963, followed by restoration and a re-opening in 2022. At first a terminus it formed the junct ...

and on the Glasgow Branch at Firhill Road and Craighall Road.Archaeological data Service – Stockingfield Desk Based Assessment
''archaeologydataservice.ac.uk'' Where a water link was no longer commercially important, but still represented a risk in case of damage, it might be closed off permanently with concrete or an earth bank. This was done in Bristol at the beginning of WWII to protect the

floating harbour Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out p ...

by blocking the river access from the harbour at Bathurst Basin and the Feeder Canal at Totterdown Basin.

Canals with safety gates

The Forth and Clyde Canal

In 1942 two massive steel safety, or stop, gates were constructed on the Edinburgh side of

at what is known as the Stockingfield Narrows. The purpose of these two hand cranked steel gates was to hold back the waters of the

to prevent serious flooding in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in the event of bombing destroying or breaching the nearby Stockingfield Aqueduct. The nearest lock on the Edinburgh main line that could control the water loss after a breach is away at Wyndford, Lock 20. Further sets of safety, or stop, locks were also created in

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

on the Glasgow Branch at the Firhill Road Narrows and at Craighall Road Narrows near Speirs Wharf, protecting the city from potential damage to the two aqueducts on this route. The Stockingfield Narrows gates are substantially intact whilst mainly the concrete parts of the structures remain at Firhill Road Narrows.

The Union Canal

The Union Canal was built as a contour or mathematical canal and is approximately in length, following the contour throughout, thereby avoiding the need for locks but lacking this means of restricting water loss in the event of a breach. For safety the engineers between 1818 and 1822 provided gates in case of structural failures and for canal maintenance using single leaf, timber gates at nineteen locations.

Scottish Canals Scottish Canals () is the Scottish Government body responsible for managing the country's inland waterways. Formerly a division of British Waterways, it became a stand-alone corporation on 2 July 2012, then an executive non-departmental public ...

have had two timber bridge hole gates made to the original design and dimensions for installation at

Linlithgow Linlithgow ( ; ; ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a historic route between Edi ...

The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal

The

Gloucester and Sharpness Canal The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal (also known as the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal) is a ship canal in the west of England, between Gloucester and Sharpness, completed in 1827. For much of its length the canal runs close to the tidal River S ...

is a canal, up to in depth, so that in the event of a canal breach millions of litres of water would flood the area. A series of safety gates are located along the canal and are particularly important as an unusual feature of the canal is a lack of locks, being described as a

contour canal A contour canal is an artificially-dug navigable canal which closely follows the contour line of the land it traverses, in order to avoid costly engineering works such as: * Digging a cutting or tunnel through higher ground; * Building an embankm ...

. In an emergency these gates automatically close to ensure that any risk created by a flood is controlled, protecting

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

and the villages along the course of the canal to

Sharpness Sharpness may refer to: * Sharpness, Gloucestershire, a port in England * Sharpness (cutting), the capacity of a surface to initiate a cut on another surface * Sharpness (visual), a combination of resolution and acutance ** Critical focus or cr ...

The Grand Union and Regent's Canal

The

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...

starts in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and runs to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

with a total length of and 166 locks. Safety or Air Raid Protection (ARP) gates were installed at around 16 locations that were designed to automatically close if the canals were damaged during the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

's air raids. A very large number of bombs, etc. fell in the vicinity of the canals in London during the war, however no significant flooding resulted from damage to canals. The Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Department was created in 1935 to ensure that local authorities and other employers co-operated with central government. Canals on embankments through low-lying or built up areas such as London were identified as being particularly vulnerable to bombing and sabotage. At the very least resultant flooding would endanger lives, disrupt transport interchanges at King's Cross and Paddington and endanger factories in the Thames Valley.Safeguarding London in wartime - air raid protection gates
''canalrivertrust.org.uk'' In 1938 stop planks and safety gates were installed in the

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in ea ...

and in the

in Greater London area and its

Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

branch. Stop plank grooves were cut at each end of the aqueducts and at all weir sluices, whilst the stop gates were built in such a way that they did not unduly obstruct canal traffic. Canal Roundabout - geograph

Birmingham Canal Navigations

The Roundabout island at

Old Turn Junction Old Turn Junction, or Deep Cutting Junction () is a canal junction in Birmingham, England, where the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal meets the Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line Canal. The junction features a circular island. History When ...

was installed during

, to facilitate the insertion of safety gates to protect the railway tunnel of the Stour Valley railway line that runs beneath it, in the event of a breach through bombing. The canal at this point was too wide and the island was required to narrow the canal enough for gates to be installed when required.

Dortmund–Ems Canal

The

Dortmund–Ems Canal The Dortmund–Ems Canal is a long canal in Germany between the inland port of the city of Dortmund () and the seaport of Emden. The artificial southern part of the canal ends after at Herbrum lock near Meppen. The route then takes the r ...

in Germany was a prime target for bombing by the RAF in

and had safety gates installed to reduce flooding, loss of water from the canal and limit numbers of boats stranded.

The Danube–Tisa–Danube Canal

The

Danube–Tisa–Danube Canal Danube–Tisza, Tisa–Danube Canal (DTD) () is a canal system in Serbia. It is a unique hydro-engineering system for flood control and hydrotechnical management, amelioration, forestry, water supply, waste water evacuation, navigation, touri ...

system in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

has 24 gates, 16 locks, five safety gates.

Micro-history

Attempts were made by six members of the Ribbon Society (Irish dissidents) in March 1883 to blow up the Possil Road Aqueduct on the Glasgow Branch of the

.Paula Bartley ''Queen Victoria''

External links

Video footage of the Stockingfield Junction WWII 'Stop or Safety gate'.Video footage of Stockingfield Junction.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canal Safety Gates 20th century in Scotland Canals in Scotland Water transport infrastructure Flood control