River Tees Barge Lock - Tees Barrage -Stockton-On-Tees, UK - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

"The Tees Barrage is a barrage and road bridge across the River Tees, Northern England, just upriver of Blue House Point and is used to control the flow of the river, preventing flooding and the effects of tidal change. It is between the towns of Stockton-on-Tees and Thornaby, road access is only by the latter with limited road access to the Tees's north bank.

The Tees Barrage comprises a river barrage, road bridge, footbridge, barge lock, fish pass and access point to a white water course. The waters above the barrage are permanently held at the level of an average high tide and are used for watersports such as canoeing, jet skiing, dragonboat racing and incorporates a 1 km rowing course.

The Tees Barrage and Tees Barrage International White Water Course were developed by the defunct Teesside Development Corporation.

Barge Lock

The lock is a single-rise lock with two pairs of lock gates to allow light river traffic to negotiate the barrage. The dimensions of the lock are length 24.88 m, beam 6.08 m, height 5.37 m with a draught of 2.48 m. If necessary, when the lock is in use, a single leaf steel bascule lifting bridge over the lock is raised to allow the passage of lock traffic. There is no charge to use the lock however users must have permits to use the river both above and below the barrage.

Tidal Turbine Test Facility
On 8 June 2007 a new facility was opened for testing prototype marine current turbines and other turbine devices. This facility is operated and funded by the National Renewable Energy Centre. It uses the hydraulic head in the barge lock to release water through sluices at a controlled velocity to create a simulation of steady ocean current conditions downstream of the lock.

The first turbine to be tested at this site was Evopod, a semi submerged floating tidal turbine developed by offshore consultancy Ocean Flow Energy Ltd based in North Shields. The test was largely a success and further devices are booked including a Rugged Renewables Savonius rotor that is to be deployed as a building-mounted turbine. The development of this facility completes NaREC's portfolio of test facilities." link

Waterway Name: River Tees Connected Points: The River Tees flows 85 miles from Cross Fell to the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar, but only 27.5 miles is navigable from Worsall Weir to the North Sea. Type: Lock Date Opened: 07/17/1995 Elevation Difference (meters): 4.00 Site Status: Operational Web Site: [Web Link] Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed

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