Fort Augustus, Swing Bridge over Caledonian Canal An oblique view of the swing bridge, looking east, with a pair of lock gates in the middle distance. In the foreground stands a capstan Digital image ...

Description Fort Augustus, Swing Bridge over Caledonian Canal An oblique view of the swing bridge, looking east, with a pair of lock gates in the middle distance. In the foreground stands a capstan Digital image of D 64043

Date 29/3/1999

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

Catalogue Number SC 799664

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 64043

Scope and Content Fort Augustus Swing Bridge, Caledonian Canal, Highland, from west This shows the swing bridge, which was built in 1932 by Sir William Arrol & Company, with a pair of lock gates on the right. The lock gates have a railed walkway and control the water level of the lock nearest Loch Ness. Planters which are later additions surmount the white-painted piers of the bridge and in the foreground (right) there is a revolving capstan which was probably used for winching boats. 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. There are 12 lock gates in total for the five locks and the controls for operating the mechanisms which open and close the lock gates are located in the metal casings to the side of the channel (structure on the left with its doors open). 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/799664

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap