Gairlochy, Caledonian Canal, Swing Bridge Oblique view from west of bridge Digital image of D 48087

Description Gairlochy, Caledonian Canal, Swing Bridge Oblique view from west of bridge Digital image of D 48087

Date 6/5/1999

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

Catalogue Number SC 801422

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 48087

Scope and Content Gairlochy Swing Bridge, Caledonian Canal, Highland, from west This shows the south-west face of the swing bridge, built in the early 20th century, with part of the regulating lock, completed in 1813, in the left background. The lock-keeper occupied a two-storeyed house, part of which is visible behind the three-bayed cottage (centre). The bridge-keeper or another canal worker would have occupied this cottage. The bridge-keeper has to operate the controls for this bridge in the open air unlike other bridges on the canal which have adjacent bridge-keeper cabins. The regulating lock was unable to cope with the large volume of water from Loch Lochy which meant that a new lock (West Lock) was constructed in 1844 to the right of this bridge. 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/801422

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap