Locks 22-23-24, built between 1759 and 1804, constitute the last triple lock of the North Branch. Their oval chambers, with lengths between 23.50 and 24.20 meters and widths from 9.30 to 15.70 meters, form a continuous structure in which the edges of the stile gates act as spillway lips, allowing water to flow between chambers. Above the upper stile gate, a retaining wall maintains the common level of the reservoir and facilitates the division of flows, while the crest functions as a fixed-lip spillway. The complex incorporates channels and gates that regulated the flow towards the Carrión River. Constructed of limestone ashlar, they even retain the bases of the old windlasses.
The system is completed by several secondary elements. The main bridge, with a semicircular arch in limestone ashlar, has a broken plan, a plain impost, and stone parapets, and is well preserved. The old hydroelectric power station, with three stories and mixed walls of ashlar and pressed brick, is in poor condition, although it retains its original structure and facades. The two historic houses, one single-story and the other two-story, retain plastered brick walls, stone plinths, and curved tile roofs, both in good condition. The stables, rectangular in plan and with pressed brick walls, maintain their original structure after several renovations. The mill, with a basement and three stories and an arcade of four semicircular arches, is in ruins, although it retains valuable structural elements. The commemorative monument, a stone prism crowned by the royal coat of arms, celebrates the confluence of the Pisuerga and Carrión rivers. The ensemble is completed by the intake of the Palencia irrigation canal, made of limestone masonry, and the regulating gates, installed on the old abutments of the access bridge to El Espinar.
It’s a perfect place to stop, observe the movement of the canal, and discover how enlightened engineering transformed this stretch of territory.
