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Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders
Date 2007
Event ID 605963
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/605963
This masonry segmental-arch aqueduct carries the canal over the Luggie near Kirkintilloch, and was the first
major canal aqueduct in Scotland. It was designed by Smeaton, with minor modifications by Mackell, and built
by Gibb and Muir from 1772–74 and is about 124 ft long overall, 50 ft high and 90 ft wide. The original design was for a single arch span of 60 ft. Interesting features are that, unlike at Kelvin Aqueduct, the canal passes over the Luggie at full width providing the operational benefit of uninterrupted two-way passage; horizontal side arches adjoining the waterway are provided for lateral stability; and the 90 ft tunnel of the arch was built in three stages by means of a full spantimber centring devised by the contractors which moved on rollers. The two joints are scarcely discernable. The lateral arches have a rise of about one-tenth span and bear on the abutment walls at their ends. In 1858 the Campsie Branch of the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway was constructed, crossing the canal through the arch of the Luggie Aqueduct. The Luggie Water was contained within a twin-arched culvert to allow the railway to pass over it.
R Paxton and J Shipway 2007
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission of Thomas Telford Publishers.
