The waiting times for the lock at Grave will be shorter after this weekend. Rijkswaterstaat will replace a broken part on Sunday so that the lock can be used at full capacity again. The lock is now widely used as a diversion route because the lock at Weurt in Gelderland is closed. Wait times were sometimes up to twelve hours.
The locks at Weurt, near Nijmegen, are responsible for the water traffic jams. This lock has two chambers, say passages, which are both closed. One lock through the low water and at the other passage the gears needed to operate the lock doors are broken.
Ships that want to sail from the Maas to the Waal therefore all have to circumnavigate and pass through the lock of Grave. This resulted in long boat traffic jams. But this lock also has its problems.
Worn Hinge
One of the gates of the lock has a worn hinge. Such a slide provides the supply and drainage of water, which is necessary to bridge the difference in height. Now one of those sliders doesn’t work, which makes locking a lot slower. A part for this had been ordered and would be on the way for about ten weeks.
However, it looks like the part is already in and the lock at Grave can be repaired this weekend. Rijkswaterstaat will do this on Sunday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. The entire lock has to be closed for that.
But says Rijkswaterstaat: “In this period there is considerably less commercial shipping, the recreational skippers are often moored in a marina and we meet the condition that the work is carried out during daylight for safety reasons. With this time slot we try to limit the nuisance as much as possible.”
Wait less
If all goes well, the waiting times for the lock at Grave will be shorter from Monday. This is because the firing then goes a lot faster. The lock at Weurt is expected to be blocked until the end of August.
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