Kirkfield Lift Lock

Kirkfield Lift Lock
Waterway	Trent-Severn Waterway
Country	Canada
Maintained by	Parks Canada
Operation	Hydraulic
First built	1907
Latest built	1969
Length	42.4 m
Width	10.1 m
Fall	14.9 m
Above sea level	256.2 m
Geographic data
Coordinates	44°35′23″N 78°59′23″W / 44.58973°N 78.98981°W / 44.58973; -78.98981

The Kirkfield Lift Lock is a boat lift located in the city of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada, near the village of Kirkfield. It is designated "Lock 36" of the Trent-Severn Waterway, situated at the highest section of the canal (256.2 m).^[1] It is Canada's second lift lock, the other one is the Peterborough Lift Lock, located on the same canal system.^[2]

Construction history

The early years

Construction of the Kirkfield Lift Lock during the 1900s.

Construction of the lock took place between 1900 and 1907.^[2] It was contrived by Richard Birdsall Rogers, a Canadian engineer, who adopted the design of the Lifts on the old Canal du Centre in Belgium. The concept of the hydraulic lift lock had never been implemented in the harsher Canadian climate prior to the construction of the Peterborough Lift Lock, also designed by Rogers. The successful completion of the locks was therefore considered a significant technological breakthrough.

Modernization

During the late 1960s, the Kirkfield Lift Lock underwent a series of renovations. The original manual controls were electrified and automated, enabling all lock operations to be activated from a single console in the new control tower. The water-driven gate engines and pumps were removed, as well as the retaining walls, concrete piers, and the steel aqueduct. The shops and lockmaster's houses built along the canal were also demolished. The lock was reinforced with a massive concrete structure; a new two-lane underpass was constructed underneath.

Currently, the lock is used exclusively by pleasure boats, like the rest of the canal, becoming obsolete for commercial traffic after the present version of the Welland Canal was completed in 1932.

References

City of Kawartha Lakes City seat: Lindsay Towns Lindsay Villages and unincorporated communities Ancona Point Argyle Avery Point Baddow Baker Trail Ballyduff Barclay Bellevue Bethany Bethel Bobcaygeon1 Bolsover Burnt River Burton Cambray Cameron Coboconk Dalrymple Dartmoor Daytonia Beach Dongola Downeyville Dunsford Emily Eldon Station Feir Mill Fenelon Falls Fowlers Corners Fleetwood Glenarm Greenhurst-Thurstonia Hartley Head Lake Janetville Kinmount1 Kirkfield Little Britain Long Beach Long Point Lorneville Manilla1 Manvers Mariposa Station Mariposa Norland Oakwood Omemee Pontypool Ragged Rapids Rokeby Rosedale Sadowa St. Mary's Sebright Sturgeon Point Uphill Valentia Verulam Park Victoria Road View Lake Woodville Former townships Bexley Carden Dalton Laxton, Digby and Longford Eldon Emily Fenelon Manvers Mariposa Ops Somerville Verulam Major lakes Trent River Shadow Lake Silver Lake Four Mile Lake Balsam Lake Cameron Lake Sturgeon Lake Lake Scugog Pigeon Lake Talbot River Canal Lake Mitchell Lake Talbot Lake Severn River Lake Dalrymple Cranberry Lake Head Lake Fishog Lake Topics List of roads Victoria County 1) This area lies on the border of an adjacent region, but is part of the Kawartha Lakes census.