British Icons: The Falkirk Wheel
When the Millennium Commission decided to restore the long abandoned canals of central Scotland, they faced a dilemma. The Forth Clyde Canal and the Union Canal have a difference in height of about 24 meters(79 ft) and a lock was needed to link the canals. The winning design was the Falkirk Wheeland while it might look like just another monstrosity of concrete and steel, how it works will knock your socks off! The wheel actually lowers a canal boat from the upper canal to the lower one, while raising a boat from the lower canal to the upper one at the very same time. It’s like an amusement ride on steroids!
The best way for me to explain it is to show it in action so I’m including two videos here.
This first one is a mock up of the design and how it is intended to function. You’ll see a boat traveling from one canal down to the wheel, where it will be lowered to the second canal.
This video shows the actual wheel functioning in time elapsed video. In actuality, the wheel moves rather slowly, which is a good thing for people like me who don’t like heights or amusement park rides.
The Falkirk Wheel is located near the village of Tamfourhill and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002. The wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world. There is another boat lift in the U.K., the Anderton Boat Lift which is located in Cheshire but it raises and lowers rather than rotating.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to ride down one of Britain’s lovely canal systems you should do, if given the chance. It really is quite an experience moving through one lock then another; it takes you back to the days when canals in Britain were a major mode of transportation, moving people and goods from village to town, town to city.
