Aquatic Control Engineering have played a key part of the Thames Motorisation project, by replacing two vertical sluice gates on the river, one at Shifford and the other at Osney. These sluice gates are to prevent flooding in the area by diverting flood water along flood relief channels during times of high water levels.

The preceding sluice gates were manually operated and had surpassed their acceptable lifespan. The new gates supplied and installed by ACE are actuated which allows for smoother and quicker deployment in times of flood risk.

The new gates, as with all of ACE's penstocks, are made from HDPE and Stainless Steel 316; this ensures that maintenance is kept to a minimum. After surveying the site, ACE had the penstocks built to suit the existing structures, this was to keep the amount of civil works to a very low level, reducing the time spent on site and mobilisation costs to their client. This project saw ACE directly employed by the Environment Agency, while working very closely with Halcrow.