Fort Augustus, Swing Bridge over Caledonian Canal An oblique view looking south along the pedestrian walkway running along the swing bridge Digital image of D 64033.

Description Fort Augustus, Swing Bridge over Caledonian Canal An oblique view looking south along the pedestrian walkway running along the swing bridge Digital image of D 64033.

Date 29/3/1999

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

Catalogue Number SC 799663

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 64033

Scope and Content Fort Augustus Swing Bridge, Caledonian Canal, Highland, from north This shows the deck of the pedestrian walkway on the east side of the bridge which was built in 1932 by Sir William Arrol & Company. The walkway is supported on the main span of the bridge and it has a white-painted and railed parapet. The planter which tops the pier (right) is a later addition and the control cabin in the background has tapering windows. Originally another swing bridge spanned the canal at this point but was replaced by this bridge when it became too small for increased vehicle usage in the 1930s. The new stronger and wider bridge was similar in design to other bridges (Auchinstarry Swing Bridge, North Lanarkshire, and Hillhead Bridge, Kirkintilloch) being built on The Forth & Clyde Canal at this time. The Caledonian Canal was designed by Thomas Telford (1757-1834) and built between 1803 and 1822 at a cost of £840,000. It was the first example of a transport network funded by the government in Great Britain. The 96.5km-long canal provides a route for boats travelling between the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean as it runs from the Beauly Firth at Clachnaharry, Inverness, to Loch Linnhe at Corpach. Only 35.4km of this length is man-made while the other 61km runs through four lochs: Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness, Loch Oich and Loch Lochy. Unfortunately at 4.2m deep the canal was too small for most sea-going ships which led to it being altered and deepened between 1844 and 1847. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/799663

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap