Inverness, Clachnaharry Railway Swing Bridge An elevated view of a passenger train crossing the swing railway bridge. Both the Beauly Firth and the Kessock suspension bridge are visible in the backgr ...

Description Inverness, Clachnaharry Railway Swing Bridge An elevated view of a passenger train crossing the swing railway bridge. Both the Beauly Firth and the Kessock suspension bridge are visible in the background. Digital image of D 64053

Date 30/3/1999

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

Catalogue Number SC 804824

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 64053 CN

Scope and Content Clachnaharry Railway Swing Bridge, Caledonian Canal, Inverness, Highland, from south-west This shows a train travelling over the swing bridge which was built in 1909 for the Highland Railway. The timber structure on the other side of the channel is a support for the bridge when it has been moved into an open position. The Beauly Firth and the Kessock Suspension Bridge are visible in the background. Originally, a movable bridge which was built in 1862 for the Inverness & Ross-shire Railway, spanned the canal at this point. This replacement bridge is probably stronger but similar in style to the original bridge which was constructed of wrought iron. Ensuring that the canal was not blocked was the most important factor for the engineers when designing these bridges. 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/804824

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap