Almond Aqueduct

Almond Aqueduct
Coordinates 55°55′16″N 3°26′01″W / 55.9212°N 3.4337°W / 55.9212; -3.4337Coordinates: 55°55′16″N 3°26′01″W / 55.9212°N 3.4337°W / 55.9212; -3.4337
OS grid reference NT105707
Carries Union Canal
Crosses River Almond
Locale West Lothian/City of Edinburgh
Maintained by British Waterways
Characteristics
Total length 420 feet (130 m)
Height 76 feet (23 m)

The Almond Aqueduct, also known as the Lin's Mill Aqueduct, is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Union Canal over the River Almond in Scotland, west of Ratho, Edinburgh.

History

The aqueduct was built to a design by Hugh Baird, with advice from Thomas Telford, in tandem with the Slateford Aqueduct and Avon Aqueduct, with which it shares its design.[1] Baird had originally proposed to have only a single span, with embankments carrying the canal the rest of the way, but eventually decided to use the same design as the other two aqueducts.[2]

Telford was not convinced that the stone arches were necessary in conjunction with the iron trough, but Baird used both on all three major aqueducts.[1] Construction was carried out by Messrs. Craven, Whitaker and Nowell between 1819 and 1821, their success in building a stone bridge over the River Ouse making their tender for the contract "by far the most eligible."[3]

Design

The Barton Aqueduct of 1761, and subsequent canal aqueducts in the United Kingdom, used large quantities of masonry and puddling to obtain watertightness.[3] After the success of The Iron Bridge in 1789, however, cast iron was used by Telford on aqueducts such as Chirk and Pontcysyllte.[3] Aqueducts built in the early part of the 19th century use either puddle clay or an iron trough in no particular pattern.[4] The Almond Aqueduct uses an iron trough to achieve watertightness, as well as containing the outward pressure of the water, allowing it to be of more slender construction than a purely stone aqueduct such as the Kelvin Aqueduct.[5]

Measuring 420 feet (130 m) long, it carries the Union Canal 76 feet (23 m) above the River Almond, from Edinburgh into West Lothian.[6] A sluice into the Almond allows regulation of the water level in the canal, and near to the aqueduct is a feeder from Cobbinshaw Reservoir.[2] The aqueduct can be reached by car by way of a track and by walkers and cyclists on the Union Canal towpath.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Avon Aqueduct, Edinburgh & Glasgow Union Canal". engineering-timelines.com. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 RCAHMS. "Union Canal, Almond Aqueduct (50760)". Canmore. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Fleming, George (2000). The Millennium Link: The Rehabilitation of the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals. Thomas Telford. pp. 23–26. ISBN 978-0-7277-2945-3.
  4. ↑ Cossons, Neil; Trinder, Barrie Stuart (2002). The Iron Bridge: symbol of the Industrial Revolution. Phillimore. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-86077-230-6.
  5. ↑ RCAHMS. "Union Canal, Avon Aqueduct (47842)". Canmore. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Almond Aqueduct On The Union Canal". scran.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2014.

External links

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