The Falkirk Wheel: Folly to Fame

Listening to the radio is still often a great pleasure, even in this television age. In a recent Open County programme on Radio 4 the listener was taken on a boat journey which lead along the western end of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal , took in a trip on the recently opened Falkirk Wheel and finished in the Forth and Clyde Canal. Other information covered included aspects of the history of the original canals and the newly finished project. Both canals are broad canals, and Robert Whitworth the Engineer of the F&CC was also responsible for the summit level of the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

The boat used was the Govan Seagull, a 50feet long trip boat designed to accommodate 12 passengers and up to six wheelchairs and built by apprentices at Govan boatyards.

A local historian described the Forth and Clyde Canal as "the major initiative which transformed Scotland into the industrial giant of the late 19th century". By joining the two rivers a cross country route was produced with 39 locks. The EGUC was later constructed to join Edinburgh to the F&CC avoiding use of coastal waters in the Firth which could be dangerous. The EGUC began at a high level in Edinburgh and retained the same level for 30 miles until the flight of 11 locks which descended to the F&CC at Falkirk.

The canals were early pioneers in containerisation since special wagon-boats were constructed upon which loaded coal carts could be fastened for delivery to the customers without the extra costs of discharging the cargo from boat to cart at the end of the voyage. Together the two canals offered a reliable water route between Edinburg and Glasgow and before the coming of the railways a flourishing passenger service brought canal investors a good return. High speed, horse drawn packet boats carried various classes of passengers and there was even a sleeper service.

The modern day journey began on the EGUC, sailing westwards. The F&CC was the first large scale engineering project to be completed since the construction of the Antoine Wall 1500 years ago. By coincidence the two come together at one point where the canal tunnels underneath the Wall and the Edinburgh to Glasgow Railway line. The listener was transported through the tunnel and came out into daylight high above the Clyde valley on an elevated aqueduct.

During the construction of the approach channel the railway lines were lifted every Saturday night at midnight for the work to go ahead, and replaced ready for the commuter traffic the following Monday morning. This went on for no less than a year.

To replace the old 11 locks modern engineers came up with the idea of twin caissons mounted on two end plates slightly resembling the double headed Celtic axe head.. The whole structure could be rotated to raise or lower boats the 115 feet difference between the canals. The Govan Seagull moved slowly into the caisson or gondola, seemingly about to fall off the end into the valley below. However, once moored up, sealing gates were shut on canal and gondola, the huge frame gradually rotated and the gondola was lowered to the level of the F&CC. From there passengers could return to the upper level at the next rotation or make their own way via the very active Visitor Centre on site where the workings of the wheel are ably demonstrated in model form.

An Environmental Scientist was then interviewed. He spoke about the dredging operations which had been necessary to reopen the EGUC. As well as the expected sofas, old cars, traffic cones and shopping trolleys, 300,000 tonnes of dredged material were removed from the canal. Just above the site of the Wheel were the premises of a large munitions factory, once the domain of Alfred Nobel, of the Peace Prize fame. In his day the factory was producing fulminate of mercury detonators and much waste found its way into the canal. This created the highest level of mercury in any waterway in the United Kingdom, so great care was needed in the removal and disposal of this material. The infill was stabilised with concrete then moved to a special disposal site outside Falkirk. Surprisingly, there was little evidence of damage to wildlife, although fish had high levels of mercury within their bodies.

Elsewhere, the site of a tar works had been the source of further contamination when hot tar flowed into the canal. So much work was taken out here that the materials were placed inside clay bunds and now form the base of the visitors' car park. Much of the project has been concerned with sustainability so that the 250,000 tonnes of materials removed from the lower basin were reused elsewhere on site, whilst the materials excavated from the tunnel were used to create the approach embankment to the aqueduct.

The listener was then treated to a return trip, up the wheel. The boat entered the gondola, was moored, the gates closed and off it went, revolving on a 3 inch thick steel axle at the centre and powered by 10 hydraulic motors. So smoothly does the wheel perform that when the restaurant boat negotiates the lift the diners feel no disturbance.

When the idea of the lift was first proposed it was considered to be slightly mad and treated with much scepticism. After all, the two canals had been abandoned for over 40 years whilst the lock flight was an even earlier casualty, being decommissioned over 70 years ago. The vision has however paid off and the project is a great success. Water quality within the reopened canals in high with bream and trout present rather than the expected pike, perch and roach of lower quality waterways. Boaters negotiate the wheel to access previously unreachable routes and the number of non-boater visitors continues to rise, bringing a much needed boost to the local economy.

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