Inverness, Muirtown Swing Bridge over Caledonian Canal View of control cabin from south Digital image of D 64090
SC 804770
Description Inverness, Muirtown Swing Bridge over Caledonian Canal View of control cabin from south Digital image of D 64090
Date 30/3/1999
Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu
Catalogue Number SC 804770
Category On-line Digital Images
Copy of D 64090
Scope and Content Muirtown Swing Bridge, Caledonian Canal, Inverness, Highland, from south This shows the control cabin for the swing bridge which was built by Sir William Arrol & Company in the 1930s. The controls for opening and closing the bridge are located in this cabin which is surmounted by a black-painted string-course. Railings surmount part of the crescent shaped main span (right) with a movable barrier and the rear of a flashing warning sign visible on the left. Originally, another movable bridge spanned the canal at this point which probably became out-dated or too weak for the volume of traffic. The control cabin is part of the original design, which is unusual, as most of the other 1930s swing bridges over the canal have cabins which were added in the late 20th century. 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.
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