View from S showing part of aqueduct with part of viaduct in background Digital image of ED 1037
SC 797045
Description View from S showing part of aqueduct with part of viaduct in background Digital image of ED 1037
Date 5/1965
Collection Records of the Scottish National Buildings Record, Edinburgh, Scotland
Catalogue Number SC 797045
Category On-line Digital Images
Copy of ED 1037
Scope and Content Slateford Aqueduct, Union Canal, Edinburgh, from south This shows three arches of Slateford Aqueduct, built between 1818 and 1822, which was designed by Baird with advice from Thomas Telford. The eight-arched aqueduct travels 152m and the east arch spans the Water of Leith. Each of the arches are supported by stone pillars which are about 23m in height. The structure in the background is part of Slateford Viaduct. This aqueduct is based on the innovative aqueducts (Chirk and Pontcysyllte) designed by Telford on the Ellesmere Canal. The water is carried on an iron trough over the span which means that the aqueduct does not have to counter the water's outward pressure. The stone pillars and arches are therefore lighter and more elegant. 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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