View from NW

Description View from NW

Date 31/7/2001

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

Catalogue Number E 5882 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 796912

Scope and Content Bridge No 60, Union Canal, Falkirk, from north-west This shows the west face of Bridge No 60, which was probably designed and built by Baird around 1820. The large arch is surmounted by a projecting string-course which travels the length of the parapet. The towpath, originally walked by horses pulling barges, continues underneath the bridge. This bridge is slightly larger than many of the other bridges over the canal because it spans a wide cutting. All the bridges on the Union Canal were 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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