Slateford Aqueduct
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox bridge
| bridge_name = Slateford Aqueduct
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| image = Slateford Viaduct (9).jpg
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| carries = Union Canal
| crosses = Water of Leith
| locale = Slateford
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| architect =
| designer = Hugh Baird, Thomas Telford
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| length = {{convert|500|ft}}
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| height = {{convert|75|ft}}
| mainspan = {{convert|50|ft}}
| spans = Eight
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| begin = 1819
| complete = 1822
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The Slateford Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Union Canal over the Water of Leith at Slateford, Edinburgh, Scotland. Completed in 1822, it has eight arches and spans a length of {{convert|500|ft}}.
History
File:Slateford Viaduct (3).jpg
It was designed by Hugh Baird with advice from Thomas Telford and is modelled on Telford's Chirk Aqueduct.{{cite web |url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/52727/edinburgh-union-canal-slateford-aqueduct |title=Edinburgh, Union Canal, Slateford Aqueduct |publisher=Canmore |website=canmore.org.uk |accessdate=5 April 2017}} Different parts of the canal were tendered to contractors at different times, and the masonry for the Slateford Aqueduct was advertised to builders on 2 March 1818.{{cite book|last=Fleming|first=George|title=The Millennium Link: The Rehabilitation of the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X9XmZQZB0pIC&pg=PA24|year=2000|publisher=Thomas Telford|isbn=978-0-7277-2945-3|pages=23–26}} Baird wrote to Telford regarding the ironwork, as he had received a visit from James Thomson, representing the company of William Hazledine, who had worked on the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Baird was unsure about using a contractor based so far away, and also as to whether the contract should just be for the delivery of the plates or the delivery and assembly. On 3 April 1818, Hugh McIntosh was chosen to construct the aqueduct, as he was the contractor for the east end of the canal. After Thomson sent an estimate to Telford for the iron on 30 April, a revised specification was chosen by Baird, the contract for which was advertised on 18 July, and tenders opened on 11 August. The offer by the partnership of Messrs. Craven, Whitaker and Nowell, riding on the success of their building a stone bridge over the River Ouse, was accepted as being "by far the most eligible."
Construction had started by March 1819, after the laying of a foundation stone. It lasted until 1822, and the canal opened that year.
It was listed as a category B listed building in 1970.{{cite web |url=http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB27958 |title=Union Canal Slateford Aqueduct over Inglis Green Road and Water of Leith. LB27958 |publisher=Historic Environment Scotland |website=portal.historicenvironment.scot |accessdate=20 December 2016}}
Design
File:Slateford Viaduct (4).jpg
The Barton Aqueduct of 1761, and subsequent canal aqueducts in the United Kingdom, used large quantities of masonry and puddling to obtain watertightness. After the success of The Iron Bridge in 1789, however, cast iron was used by Telford on aqueducts such as Chirk and Pontcysyllte. Aqueducts built in the early part of the 19th century use either puddle clay or an iron trough in no particular pattern.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p0YfAQAAIAAJ |title=The Iron Bridge: symbol of the Industrial Revolution |first1=Neil |last1=Cossons |first2=Barrie Stuart |last2=Trinder |publisher=Phillimore |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-86077-230-6 |page=72}}
The Slateford Aqueduct has eight arches of {{convert|50|ft}} span, and is {{convert|500|ft}} long and {{convert|75|ft}} high above the Water of Leith. The piers are battered, giving a larger footprint at the base than the top, and the spandrels are hollow, an innovation by Telford. The interior of the stone structure is essentially a set of 5/6? stone arches running in parallel along the length of the bridge, linked and braced laterally at the top of each arch. It is possible to walk the length of the bridge inside the stonework on the north side, from access apertures on the abutments. It carries the Union Canal across Inglis Green Road and the Water of Leith at Slateford.{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst19091.html |title=Slateford Aqueduct |publisher=scottish-places.info |accessdate=18 September 2014}}{{Google maps |url=https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.9231255,-3.2493791,312m/data=!3m1!1e3 |title=Slateford Aqueduct |accessdate=18 September 2014}} To the north of the aqueduct, on the side of the accessible towpath, is the parallel Slateford Viaduct, which carries an operational railway.{{cite web |url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/52571/edinburgh-slateford-viaduct |title=Edinburgh, Slateford Viaduct |publisher=Canmore |website=canmore.org.uk |accessdate=5 April 2017}}
See also
{{Portal|United Kingdom|Transport}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://canmore.org.uk/site/52727/edinburgh-union-canal-slateford-aqueduct Slateford Aqueduct] on the Canmore database
- [https://www.nationaltransporttrust.org.uk/heritage-sites/heritage-detail/slateford-aqueduct Slateford Aqueduct] at the National Transport Trust website
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtuxIaa8Gd4 Video footage of the aqueduct]
{{commons category}}
{{Buildings and Structures in Edinburgh}}
Category:Bridges completed in 1822
Category:Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh
Category:Navigable aqueducts in Scotland
Category:Listed bridges in Scotland
Category:Listed canals in Scotland
Category:1822 establishments in Scotland