Falkirk Wheel

the Falkirk wheel is a rotating port left it connects the 4th and Clyde canal with the Union Canal it was named after the nearby town of Falkirk in central Scotland and opened in 2002 the two canals itself were previously connected by a series of eleven blocks but by the 1930s these had fallen into disrepair and the Lots were filled in and the land built upon one to regenerate Central Scotland's canals reconnect Laska with Edinburgh was a millennium Commission project the site includes a visitor center containing a shot caffee and Exhibition Centre in the grounds are known a play lamb and explore center plus a lovely children's play area the difference in height of the two canals at the wheel is 24 meters 79 feet roughly equivalent to the height of an eight-story building but the Union Canal is 11 liters iya than the aqueduct which leaks the wheel and boats must pass through a pair of rocks to descend from this canal onto the aqueduct at the top of the wheel the wheel has an overall diameter 35 meters 115 feet and consists of two opposing arms which extend 15 meters beyond its central axle and take the shape of a Celtic inspired double-headed axe two sets of these egg shaped arms have attached about 35 litres hundred and fifteen feet apart to a 3.5 liters 11 foot diameter axle you two diametrically opposed water filled gondolas each with a capacity of 80,000 imperial gallons are fettered between the ends of the arms these gondolas always weigh the same whether they are just full of water or are carrying their complaint capacity of 600 tons of floating canal Rajas as according to our Archimedes principle floating objects displace their own weight in water so when the boat enters the amount of water leaving the gondola who is exactly the same as the boat this keeps the real balance you despite its enormous mass that rotates through 180 degrees to five and a half minutes using very little power it takes just 20 2.5 kilowatts 30 20 auspi to power the electric motors which consumed just one point five kilowatt earth energy and four minutes roughly the same as boiling 8 kettles of water you real is the only rotating pork left that's gained in the world and there's an engineering wonder you

Channel: bankieland

Views: 4,036,589

Rating: 4.7096066 out of 5

Keywords: Falkirk Wheel, Forth & Clyde canal, Union canal, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Falkirk, boat lift, lock gates, Archimedes principal, Scotland, Scottish, Central, barges, engineering, wonder, national, water, play areas, cafe, exhibition centre, Central Scotland, aquaduct, Scottish Waterways

Id: _tBH9SE-Kw8

Length: 8min 3sec (483 seconds)

Published: Sat May 18 2013

Reddit Comments

[u/TheRoss0411]

Just saying, that boat ride on the wheel was one of the most boring rides of my life

[u/Cladari]

Video speed x2 for the win.

[u/xxmickeymoorexx]

That is an amazing feat of engineering. Bravo to those who worked on it.

[u/Totsean]

I thought it would consume a lot of power but it turns out it doesn't. Takes 22 minutes for the cycle to complete. The narration isn't that great.

[u/mikkelhoegh]

Impressive engineering, but it seems a bit comical to go through this much trouble to move a canal boat. I'd guess it's one of those outrageous government boondoggles that will never be profitable. Total waste of resources.