The Falkirk Wheel, Scotland
Architect
 Architect:  RMJM
Butterley Engineering
Ove Arup Consultants
Contractor: Morrison - Bachy - Soletanche
Date Built
 Opened officially by the Queen on May 24, 2002
Location
 Lime Rd, Tamfourhill, Falkirk
Description
The Falkirk Wheel is a Millennium project designed to re-establish the link between the Forth & Clyde Canal and the Union Canal.  There is a 35 meter height difference between the two canals which was once linked by a series of 11 locks.  However, in 1933 those locks were dismantled leaving a gap in the canal system.



The so-called Millennium Link project cost £84.5 million and involved the construction of this imaginative solution, the world's first, and to this point, only rotating boat lift..  Essentially boats on the Union Canal enter the Falkirk Wheel along an elevated waterway that culminates in a water-filled gondola.  Working on the Archimedes principle of displacement, when the boat enters the upper gondola it rotates lowering the boat and the water within the gondola down to the basin below.  At the same time the lower gondola is raised to the top of the wheel.  So efficient is the mechanism it takes only 1.5Kwh of electricity to facilitate its operation.



The Wheel was built and assembled at Butterley's factory in Derbyshire, then disassembled and transported in 35 lorry loads to Falkirk, where it was once again assembled.



The Falkirk Wheel website reflects on the inspiration for the design.  It says that, "... the structure is claimed to have been inspired by various sources, both man-made and natural, such as a Celtic double headed spear, a vast turning propeller of a Clydebank built ship, the ribcage of a whale or the spine of a fish. The canal network as a 'backbone' connecting Scotland, east to west seems appropriate and there is a true beauty in the repetitive sweeping shape of the aqueduct. The arches over the aqueduct also add to the drama of the structure, forming a complete circle with the reflection in the canal to extend the feeling of the tunnel. The fact the canal literally ends in mid air creates a thrilling sense of sailing off the edge in to the spectacular scenery of the horizon."