Inverness, Muirtown Swing Bridge over Caledonian Canal Distant view from SSW of bridge, taken from the first of the Muirtown Lock gates Digital image of D 64102

Description Inverness, Muirtown Swing Bridge over Caledonian Canal Distant view from SSW of bridge, taken from the first of the Muirtown Lock gates Digital image of D 64102

Date 30/3/1999

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

Catalogue Number SC 804765

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 64102

Scope and Content Muirtown Swing Bridge, Caledonian Canal, Inverness, Highland, from south-south-west This view showing the swing bridge is taken from the first pair of lock gates in a series of four which are known as Muirtown Locks. The swing bridge, built in the 1930s by Sir William Arrol & Company, opens to let boats pass and closes to allow road traffic over the canal. Increases in vehicle usage from the 1930s onwards meant that stronger and wider swing bridges replaced almost all the original drawbridges over the canal. The only 19th-century drawbridge remaining is Moy Swing Bridge, near Loch Lochy. The close proximity of this crossing to Inverness necessitated the replacement of the original drawbridge spanning the canal. 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/804765

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap