Getting a grip on opening lock gates

I find it annoying that what ought to be useful grips for the feet while pushing or pulling a balance beam are often in the wrong place. For maximum leverage one needs to apply the force at the furthest distance from the pivot point. In the case of a balance beam, this is at the very end of the beam. The sticking-up bricks often do not coincide with this point, meaning either that you have to expend more effort than necessary, or that you risk slipping on a less than ideal surface. Usually grass.


The photo illustrates this.

Yes, it's on the northern Grand Union, where the lock gates are well-balanced, and, although heavy, are reasonably easy to move. But they're not all like this. At many locks you find worn-out arcs of grass just outside the "official" operation zone.

A little earlier (this was on our cruise in April) a BW team was installing these grips (is there a better term for them?) in recently renewed concrete.


I asked why they couldn't be better positioned. I think they didn't understand what I was getting at, as they said that they had to be placed a standard distance apart.


On a very closely related matter, it would help if the handle on the balance beam in the top photo were positioned at the end.