View of Moy Swing Bridge from west Digital image of A 57652

Description View of Moy Swing Bridge from west Digital image of A 57652

Date 1983

Catalogue Number SC 804761

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of A 57652

Scope and Content Moy Swing Bridge, Caledonian Canal, Highland, from west This shows the west side of the bridge which is the last remaining original swing bridge on the canal. The bridge-keeper turns the handle on the white-painted capstan (left) to open the north leaf. A capstan on the other bank opens the south leaf. Part of the cottage occupied by the bridge-keeper and his family is visible on the right. The greatly increased vehicle usage from the 1930s onwards meant that stronger and wider swing bridges replaced all the other original drawbridges over the canal. This bridge probably survived because it is not located on a main road but on a track which leads to fields on Moy farm. 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/804761

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap