The Falkirk Wheel

“Near Falkirk in Scotland, the Forth & Clyde Canal meets with the Union Canal, however at their meeting point the two differ in height by approximately 115 feet. Before the 1930s, travel between these canals was provided by a series of eleven conventional locks, but they became disused and were filled in about seventy-five years ago. In more recent history, the United Kingdom’s Millennium Commission began an effort to restore the canals of central Scotland in order to reconnect the east and west coasts of the landmass. As part of that effort, a brilliant, one-of-a-kind contraption was engineered which uses gravity and Archimedes’ principle to transfer boats between the two canals using very little electricity. It’s called the Falkirk Wheel.”