Lin's Mill Aqueduct, Union Canal, general view from SW (top, 19) and detail of deck (lower, 16) from W. Digital image of C 75383/16

Description Lin's Mill Aqueduct, Union Canal, general view from SW (top, 19) and detail of deck (lower, 16) from W. Digital image of C 75383/16

Date 1996

Catalogue Number SC 797027

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 75383/16

Scope and Content Almond Aqueduct, Union Canal, Edinburgh, from south-west This shows the south side of Almond Aqueduct, built between 1818 and 1822, which was designed by Baird with advice from Thomas Telford. Elegant and slender stone piers support the five arches of the aqueduct. An overflow sluice which pours water into the River Almond below, when water levels in the canal are high, surmounts the second arch from the left. The original plan was for a single-arched aqueduct with embankments, but this was changed in favour of the design for the present structure. This Telford-based design includes an iron trough for water which means that the structure does not have to counter the water's outward pressure. During the winter of 1895 a large icicle formed over the full height of the aqueduct below the sluice. 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.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/797027

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap