: Restoration completed at Liverpools Brunswick Dock

The lock and control buildings are located at the southern end of the dock system and form the entrance to the Mersey. The lock was extensively modified in 1986 by the Mersey Harbour Board to be suitable for small ships and pleasure craft only. The locks have since passed into the ownership of British Waterways.

The £1m contract, which was managed by Morrison Construction on behalf of British Waterways, involved the refurbishment of two pair of 8m by 6m radial lock gates, each gate weighing 25 tons and a road bridge weighing 22 tons. A specialist jacking rig was required to remove the hinge pins, which had been immersed for 20 years. The gates were then jacked sideways to clear the brackets and hoisted by two cranes which laid them flat for transport by truck. They were shot blasted, repainted and had their seals replaced before being lifted back into position by a 250 ton crane.

Other works included the overhaul of the hydraulic control system for the gates and bridge and the replacement of the electrical control system with a new processor based system..

During the works, which started last December, the lock chamber was temporarily dammed with 17 9m long steel stop planks with stiffeners to produce a wall capable of holding back 7m of water at high tide. Much of the work could only progress when the wind was blowing at less than 10m per second, which ruled out much of January.

The mechanical and electrical subcontractor was Amco.