Bridge no. 43, general view from SW

Description Bridge no. 43, general view from SW

Date 31/7/2001

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number E 5914 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 796899

Scope and Content Bridge No 43, Union Canal, Linlithgow, West Lothian, from south-west This shows the bridge which was designed by Baird and built around 1820. The bridge has a stepped parapet with railings which are supported on square piers. The keystone of the voussoir (arch formed with wedge-shaped blocks) is inscribed '43', which is the serial number of the bridge. The grooves on the quoins (corner stones) beneath the arch (left) have been caused by towropes rubbing as horses walked along the towpath pulling barges. Every bridge on the Union Canal has a serial number which runs east-west from Bridge No 1, Edinburgh to Bridge No 62, Falkirk. The bridges were also built with dressed stone which was in contrast to the many timber bascule bridges (drawbridges) on the Forth & Clyde Canal. The government authorised the construction of the Union Canal in 1817 and appointed Hugh Baird (1770-1827) as the chief engineer. The main purpose of the canal was to provide an economical route for the transportation of coal and lime between Edinburgh and Glasgow via the Forth & Clyde Canal (1768-90). The 51km-long canal was opened in 1822 at a cost of £461,760, almost double the estimate, and it ran from Lock 16 at Camelon, Falkirk to Fountainbridge, Edinburgh. Except where the two canals are joined at Falkirk, the canal was built with no locks because it followed the contours of the hills. The Union Canal was closed in 1965, two years after the Forth & Clyde Canal, and the construction of new roads meant that it was impossible for boats to travel along the full length of these watercourses. However, the £84.5m Millennium Link project enabled both canals to reopen in 2002. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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