View of Moy Swing Bridge from NW Digital image of A 57654

Description View of Moy Swing Bridge from NW Digital image of A 57654

Date 1983

Catalogue Number SC 804760

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of A 57654

Scope and Content Moy Swing Bridge, Caledonian Canal, Highland, from north-west This shows the west side of the bridge which is the last remaining original swing bridge on the canal. A railed parapet tops the abutments and the walkway which can be closed to southbound traffic by a gate. The two large white-painted capstans on either side of the canal contain part of the mechanisms which move the leaves of the bridge. Moy Bridge was the scene of a tragic accident in the early 1840s when Mr Bean, a contractor working on the canal alterations, was killed when his horse backed off the bridge. The parapet was probably added to the bridge in response to the accident. 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/804760

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap