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Restoring the Camden Lock

Dublin’s Grand Canal Dock was once the world’s largest dock, serving Dublin’s bustling factories, industrial mills, iron foundries and coal mines. Opened in 1796, a group of three sea locks were built to connect the dock to the River Liffey. However, as railways replaced canals as the primary way of transporting goods, the docks fell into disuse, and the area was largely abandoned by the 1960’s.

Picture of Camden Lock during restoration

Grand Canal Dock has since been regenerated, and is now a vibrant waterfront community filled with sleek condos, upmarket eateries and tech offices including Google, Facebook and Airbnb. With the final and largest lock, Camden, out of commission since 2010, Waterways Ireland is undertaking an ambitious restoration project to replace the lock gates, repair the lock walls and cills and facilitate the opening of the dock to tall ships and other large vessels.

The works to be undertaken include:

  • Restoring Camden Lock’s existing lock chamber and gate
  • Installing new timber lock gates, including a pedestrian walkway over the breast gates
  • New hydraulic rams, to allow for automation of the gates, including associated ducting and new land tie collars and underground concrete anchor at each heel post
  • Removing the existing temporary steel stop logs, tilting weir and footbridge. 

The stages in which work is completed are:

  • Stage 1

    Preparatory works. This included the contract let for stoplogs (the first stage in refurbishing the chamber) in 2019, the manufacturing of the stoplogs, which were made by Aquatic Control Engineering (A.C.E.) and shipped to Dublin Port in late 2019, the transferring of the stoplogs by tug and pontoon from the port for installation in January 2020, the fitting of the stoplogs at the end of January 2020, the tender for the new gates let in 2022 (won by Hupkes Wijma, Holland), and the dewatering of the lockgate in April 2023 for the removal of old gates. This phase also included survey work.

  • Stage 2

    Design and manufacture of the gates. This work is being carried out by Hupkes Wijma (Holland), and is ongoing. The lock chamber will be dewatered in Q3, 2024, to repair the walls and prepare for the arrival of the gates.

  • Stage 3

    Delivery and fitting of the gates. These will be shipped from Holland in late Q3, 2024, for installation in Q4, 2024.

  • Stage 4

    Mechanical & Engineering fitout. This will automate the lock gates, and will take place in Q4, 2024, with completion expected by Q2, 2025. 

The installation of new stoplogs cost €500,000 plus VAT in 2019. The rest of the works are to be completed by 2025, at a further cost of €2 million. Waterways Ireland is excited to contribute to the regeneration of Dublin’s Grand Canal Lock, and restore Camden Lock to full working order.