The Falkirk Wheel (Scottish Gaelic: Cuibhle na h-Eaglaise Brice) is a rotating boat lift in Tamfourhill, Falkirk, in central Scotland, connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. The wheel opened in 2002 as part of the Millennium Link project and it reconnects the two canals for the first time since the 1930s.
The plan to regenerate central Scotland's canals and reconnect Glasgow with Edinburgh was led by British Waterways with support and funding from several local authorities, the Scottish Enterprise Network, the European Regional Development Fund, and the Millennium Commission.
Planners decided early on to create a dramatic 21st-century landmark structure to reconnect the canals, instead of simply recreating the historic lock flight.
The wheel raises boats by 24metres (79ft), but the Union Canal is still 11metres (36ft) higher than the aqueduct which meets the wheel. Boats must also pass through a pair of locks between the top of the wheel and the Union Canal.
The Falkirk Wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world, and one of two working boat lifts in the United Kingdom, the other being the Anderton Boat Lift.
The wheel has an overall diameter of 35m (115ft) and consists of two opposing arms extending 15m (49ft) beyond the central axle and taking the shape of a Celtic-inspired, double-headed axe.
Two sets of these axe-shaped arms are connected to a 3.8m (12ft) diameter central axle of length 28m (92ft). Two diametrically opposed water-filled caissons, each with a capacity of 250,000 litres (55,000 imp gal; 66,000 US gal), are fitted between the ends of the arms.
The caissons or gondolas always carry a combined weight of 500 tonnes (490 long tons; 550 short tons) of water and boats, with the gondolas themselves each weighing 50 tonnes (49 long tons; 55 short tons).
Care is taken to maintain the water levels on each side, thus balancing the weight on each arm.
According to Archimedes' principle, floating objects displace their own weight in water, so when the boat enters, the amount of water leaving the caisson weighs exactly the same as the boat.
This is achieved by maintaining the water levels on each side to within a difference of 37mm (1.5in) using a site-wide computer control system comprising water level sensors, automated sluices and pumps.
It takes 22.5 kilowatts (30.2 hp) to power ten hydraulic motors, which consume 1.5 kilowatt-hours (5,100 BTU) per half-turn, roughly the same as boiling eight kettles of water.
7 сен 2024
