Why are there no ladders in Irish canal locks?
By / On / In Infrastructure
It has always struck me as strange that canal locks in Ireland have no ladders. While the obvious problem with having no ladders is that if there is an accident and someone falls into a lock they won’t be able to get out, but there are other issues. A ladder also allows a boat to be ‘locked through’ using only one person i.e. without a ladder in the lock a person cannot get off the boat to operate the lock. Therefore single handed boat users have to rely on the lock keepers to operate the locks for them, but lock keepers only work limited hours. It is interesting to note that nearly all British locks have ladders.