Thursday 2 June 2011

Floating in the air............. on Telfords aquaduct

Leaving Chirk Castle last weekend I visited the 200 year old aqueduct carrying the Llangollen Canal over the River Dee.
Telfords amazing canal bridge over the River Dee
 
Built by Thomas Telford between 1795 & 1805 this structure is still in use today.

Cruising along a bathtub...
...with great exposure on the port side.
Our turn to go...
...the queue to cross the bridge can be time consuming.
Constructing the aqueduct commenced in 1795... it was completed in 1805.
It is the longest and highest aqueduct in Britain and is a Grade I listed building and a World Heritage Site.
 
Floating along the skyline... a terrific experience.
The aqueduct is 1,007 ft (307 m) long, 11 ft (3.4 m) wide and 5.25 ft (1.60 m) deep.
It consists of a cast iron trough supported 126 ft (38 m) above the river on iron arched ribs carried on nineteen hollow masonry piers (pillars).
Each span is 53 ft (16 m) wide.
The aqueduct is one of the region's biggest tourist attractions bringing in 250,000 visitors a year by boat.

7 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

what a neat structure to see (and ride across!)

Nancy said...

Oh how fun! Reminds me of an amusement park ride.

936000 said...

How fascinating is that! The view does look amazing!

Adam Tilt said...

Nice collection Andrew. I've only ever seen this aqueduct from a distance but I think you've just convinced me to make the effort to get up-close.

Kathie Brown said...

I can see why! This is just amazing!!! Great shots and wonderful info!

Unknown said...

Unbelievable and I've never heard of it before! Thank you for letting me know about this amazing place. Great shots.

Unknown said...

What a great post, Andrew. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.