Pound lock with mitre gates
Esclusa de cámara con compuertas mitradas
- Date
- 1497 · confidence medium
- Place
- Milan, Italy (Naviglio Interno, San Marco)
- Credited to
- Leonardo da Vinci (design in the Codex Atlanticus); Milanese engineers
- People
- 👤 Leonardo da Vinci1452–1519
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A lock whose angled gates close against water pressure and carry sluices to level the chamber. It made navigable canals possible on routes with steep gradients.
Pound locks already existed; Leonardo designed or perfected the mitre gates, though priority is difficult to document.
What it led to
- Navigable European canals (Briare 1642, Canal du Midi 1681)
- Cheap inland waterway transport of heavy goods
- Industrial Revolution canal engineering (Bridgewater, 1761)
Built on
- Chinese pound lock (984) and the Dutch lock at Vreeswijk (1373)
- Vertical guillotine gates