The Caen Hill Flight

Thursday, 19th July 2007 by

The Caen Hill Flight is a set of 16 locks, designed to allow canal boats to rise 237 feet in just 2 miles of canal. This means that Caen Hill is officially the world's steepest flight of locks. We do love obscure world's largest facts.

Normally, canal boats travel up to a speedy 4 mph. But with all the opening and closing of gates, navigating the Caen hill flight usually takes about 5-6 hours. This means you'd be lucky to travel an average of 0.3 mph.

You may also notice that the individual locks of Caen Hill are so close together that they require an extended reservoir to the side.

Wikipedia: Caen Hill Locks

Thanks: ajho