Edinburgh, Union Canal, Slateford. General view of bridge over Slateford Road.

Description Edinburgh, Union Canal, Slateford. General view of bridge over Slateford Road.

Date 1900 to 1930

Collection Collection of photographs by George Chrystal and Francis Maxwell Chrystal, photographers, Edinburgh,

Catalogue Number SC 785643

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of ED 7340

Scope and Content Aqueduct at Slateford Road, Union Canal, Edinburgh, before 1937 (aqueduct replaced in 1937; canal closed 1965 and navigation restored 2002) This graceful, deeply-arched stone aqueduct dates from c.1821, and was designed by Hugh Baird (1770-1827), the civil engineer who planned and supervised the construction of the waterway, to carry the canal across Slateford Road. The canal flows in an iron trough incorporated within the span of the bridge, and has a towpath and an iron balustrade on either side. The aqueduct was replaced in 1937. Baird designed the canal as a contour canal, running on one level for 50.8km from east to west. It had no locks (except at its western end), and as a result the canal could be navigated from end to end with minimum delays. This was achieved by taking wide diversions to cross river valleys, and by constructing several great aqueducts and the first tunnel for a transport undertaking in Scotland. The aqueducts were all built to the same design, with the water being contained within an iron trough within the hollow arch, a technique first introduced by the Scottish engineer, Thomas Telford (1757-1834), on the Ellesmere Canal. The Union Canal, the last of Scotland's major canals, was a commercial venture begun in 1818 and completed in 1822. It was built principally as a means of importing coal and lime into Edinburgh, and ran from Port Hopetoun in Edinburgh to join the Forth & Clyde Canal at Camelon, Stirlingshire. However, within 20 years of completion most of its passenger traffic was lost to the railways, and the Edinburgh basins closed in 1922. The rest of the canal remained navigational until 1965 when it was finally closed by an Act of Parliament. In 2002, Britain's largest canal restoration project, The Millennium Link, restored navigation, and with an extension to the Union Canal and a link with the Forth & Clyde Canal through the Falkirk Wheel, boats were once more able to travel between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/785643

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap