Scottish Engineering - 12 February 2011

For the size of this country, it continues to amaze us to see the number of great influential people it has produced.  The Falkirk Wheel is a modern tribute to the engineers Scotland has produced. It is the only rotating wheel to lift boats in the world.  It was completed in 2002 to replace eleven locks that had fallen into disrepair.  Those locks lifted boats 35 meters (about 38 yards) to allow them to link boats between the Forth and Clyde Canal (built in 1790) and the Union Canal (1822). 

Linda and I with the Falkirk Wheel in the background.  The "wheel" and visitor center (on the left) cost 17.5 million pounds.

The reason we made this trip was to take our son-in-law, Mike, to see this marvel.  There is one lock still in place, pictured here, between the Forth and Clyde and the Union Canals.

Explaining how this works is a little difficult.  There are two gondolas, each filled with 300 tons of water, that boats on the canal are driven into.  You can see them in the circles at the ends of the "wheel."  They exactly balance each other.  When a boat is driven into the gondola, its weight exactly displaces its own weight in water, maintaining the balance.  Boats can be in each gondola, taking one to the top (Union Canal) and one to the bottom (Forth/Clyde Canal) or they can take only one - doesn't matter, each gondola always carries 300 tons.  The "wheel" is then rotated by eight small electric motors which use very little electricity.  As the wheel rotates, the gondolas rotate at the same rate, but in the opposite direction, always keeping them level.

This picture shows the gondolas about half way down (or up, depending on which direction you are traveling).  There is a boat going down in the gondola on the right.

 

Now the trip is completed.  The boat pictured has gone from the Union Canal at the top of the wheel, to the pond at the bottom.  It can now go through the one remaining lock, pictured in the second picture, and into the Forth and Clyde canal.  There you have it.  It was a fun day to be with Mike and great to see this thing.