page_title: Lock (water navigation)
section_title: Inclined plane
hierarchical_section_title: Lock (water navigation) / Alternatives / Inclined plane
caption_attribution_description: English: Boat coming out of cradle of inclined plane on Morris Canal. Unfortunately, it isn't documented which inclined plane HABS says: 63. CANAL BOAT IN CRADLE AT TOP OF PLANE. TO PASS OVER THE SUMMIT (THE HUMP OF LAND AT THE TOP OF PLANE TO HOLD BACK THE WATER AT THAT LEVEL), THE BOATS HAVE SEEN HINGED AND TWO CRADLES ARE USED TO CARRY THE BOAT UP THE PLANE. - Morris Canal, Phillipsburg, Warren County, NJ
context_page_description: A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is the chamber itself that rises and falls.
  Locks are used to make a river more easily navigable, or to allow a canal to cross land that is not level. Later canals used more and larger locks to allow a more direct route to be taken.
  Since 2016, the largest lock worldwide is the Kieldrecht Lock in the Port of Antwerp, Belgium.
context_section_description: An inclined plane consists of a cradle (to hold a barge) or caisson (a box full of water in which a barge can float) which moves on rails sideways up a slope from one waterway to the other. Since the box is "wet" (filled with water), Archimedes' principle ensures that the caisson always weighs the same, regardless of the size of boat being carried (or even if it contains only water). This makes for easy counterbalancing by a fixed weight or by a second caisson. The motive power may be steam or hydraulic, or may come from overbalancing the top caisson with extra water from the upper waterway.
  There are no working waterway inclined planes in the UK at the moment, but the remains of a famous one can be seen at Foxton in Leicestershire on the Leicester arm of the Grand Union Canal. The plane enabled wide-beam boats to bypass the flight of ten narrow locks, but failure to make improvements at the other end of the arm and high running costs led to its early demise. There are plans to restore it, and some funding has been obtained.
caption: Boat in cradle, at the top of inclined plane on the Morris Canal.
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