“WHAT IS GOING ON WITH KEADBY?
There are 2 issues affecting getting into Keadby from the Trent at the moment.
1/ The entrance is badly silted at the moment. Even the very narrow channel to the lock gate is silted about 0.3m ABOVE the cill. Thus to get in, you either need a reasonable amount of tide so that the channel is wider, and deeper, or you need to be there at low tide so you can see exactly where the channel is, and “push in” on the rising tide.
2/ Unfortunately…. At the moment we have REALLY low levels in the river at low tides. Not because of the tide, but because of lack of rain, and water coming down stream….
Using the local EA tide gauge….
The cill is at – 0.3m
The average height of water here across the year at low water is 0.9m. (So 1.2m over cill) on this gauge.
The lowest seen on tides when river water levels are normal is 0.6m (So 0.9m over cill)
Currently, low waters are showing at 0.0m on this gauge. This is still 0.3m above the cill, but on worst days, the silt has been visible across the whole lock front.
So normally… Even on the worst tides there is 0.9m over the cill.
So – how do we proceed at the moment……?
First… CRT tell me they hope to get a “plough” dredger in next week… That will help, but not cure the problem – depending how well a plough performs.
So now it is suggested that you leave Torksey as soon as possible to arrive Keadby at high water or as soon as possible after. Particular care is needed to follow the charted course line on the TBA charts.”