River Don Navigation

River Don Navigation
The Aldwarke Eurobarge Lock, complete with traffic lights
Specifications
Maximum boat length	229 ft 8 in (70.00 m) (originally 62 ft 0 in or 18.90 m)
Maximum boat beam	20 ft 0 in (6.10 m) (originally 16 ft 0 in or 4.88 m)
Locks	13
Status	Navigable
Navigation authority	Canal & River Trust
History
Original owner	River Don Navigation Co
Date of act	1726
Date completed	1751
Geography
Start point	Tinsley, Sheffield
End point	Bramwith
Connects to	New Junction Canal, Stainforth and Keadby Canal, Sheffield Canal

v t e River Don Navigation
Legend
River Ouse Ocean lock, Goole Docks  A161  Goole Rawcliffe Bridge  M18  motorway R Aire, A&C, Dutch River  A614  Newbridge Link to River Aire, Turnbridge Aire and Calder Navigation River Went Sykehouse Lock New Junction Canal Fishlake River Don Stainforth Side Lock Stainforth and Keadby Canal Bramwith Lock Ea Beck Thorpe Marsh Railway bridges Barnby Dun lift bridge Kirk Sandall pipe bridge Kirk Sandall Railway bridges Long Sandall Lock Chappell Drive Bridge  A19  St Georges Bridge Friars Gate Bridge Railway bridges North Bridge Doncaster Town Lock River Cheswold Weir Newtons Farm Footbridge Warmsworth East Viaduct Warmsworth West Viaduct  A1(M)  Don Viaduct Sprotbrough Lock Sprotbrough Bridge Sprotbrough Weir Rainbow Bridge Conisbrough Viaduct site of Conisbrough lock Earth Centre Bridge River Dearne Mexborough Low Lock  A6023  Pasture and Grey's bridges Mexborough Top Lock Mexborough BBCS Flour Mill Mexborough Station Road bridge Mexborough Double Bridges Swinton Talbot Road Bridge Waddington Lock Swinton Junction (Dearne and Dove Canal) Kilnhurst Burton Ings Bridge Kilnhurst Station Road Bridge Kilnhurst Cut Kilnhurst Flood Lock and weir Thrybergh (rail) Bridge Don (rail) Bridge Steelworks access (road) bridge Aldwarke Lock  A6123  Aldwarke Lane Aldwarke Weir, Wash Lane Bridge Eastwood Lock Eastwood Footbridge Bailey Bridge Greasbrough Canal  A633  Rawmarsh Rd & Grafton Bridges Greasbrough Road Bridge  A630  Centenary Way (N) Interchange Footbridge Interchange Car Park road bridge Rotherham Cut Bridge Street & Chantry Bridges Forge Island Towpath Footbridge Forge Island Footbridge Masbrough Weir Forge Island Car Park road bridge Rotherham Lock Corporation Bridge  A630  Centenary Way (S) River Rother Lockhouse Bridge Millmoor Lane Ickles Lock Midland Railway Bridge (E) Midland Railway Bridge (W) Holmes Cut and Ickles Weir Holmes Lock Jordans Lock Blackburn Meadows STW outflow Jordans Weir Jordans Bridge + Holmes Bridge MS&L railway bridge Halfpenny Bridge Site of Tinsley Wharf Tinsley Locks (3)  M1  motorway Tinsley Locks (8)  A6102  Ring Road Weirs (5)  B6083  bridge,  B6085  aqueduct Victoria Basin, Sheffield Canal River Don

The River Don Navigation was the result of early efforts to make the River Don in South Yorkshire, England, navigable between Fishlake and Sheffield. The Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden had re-routed the mouth of the river in 1626, to improve drainage, and the new works included provision for navigation, but the scheme did not solve the problem of flooding, and the Dutch River was cut in 1635 to link the new channel to Goole. The first Act of Parliament to improve navigation on the river was obtained in 1726, by a group of Cutlers based in Sheffield; the Corporation of Doncaster obtained an Act in the following year for improvements to the lower river. Locks and lock cuts were built and by 1751 the river was navigable to Tinsley.

The network was expanded by the opening of the Stainforth and Keadby Canal in 1802, linking to the River Trent, the Dearne and Dove Canal in 1804, linking to Barnsley, and the Sheffield Canal in 1819, which provided better access to Sheffield. All three were bought out by the Don Navigation in the 1840s, after which the canals were owned by a series of railway companies. The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Company was created in 1889 and eventually succeeded in buying back the canals and the Don Navigation in 1895, but plans for expansion were hampered by a lack of capital. One success was the opening of the New Junction Canal in 1905, jointly funded with the Aire and Calder Navigation.

During the 20th century, there were several plans to upgrade the Don, to handle larger craft. It was eventually upgraded to take 700-tonne barges in 1983, but the scheme was a little too late, as an anticipated rise in commercial traffic did not occur. Most use of the navigation is now by leisure boaters, whose boats are dwarfed by the huge locks. The navigation and river are crossed by a wide variety of bridges, from a medieval bridge complete with a chapel on it, one of only three to have survived in Britain, to a motorway viaduct that pioneered the use of rubber bearings and a new waterproofing system. In between are a number of railway bridges, including two that were built to carry the internal railway system at the Blackburn Meadows sewage treatment plant. The former railway viaduct at Conisbrough now carries cyclists 113 feet (34 m) above the Don, as part of the National Cycle Network.

The final section to Bramwith is known as the River Dun Navigation.