1930s
The Forth & Clyde and Union Canals were linked by a flight of 11 locks which took nearly a day to transit. These were dismantled in 1933.
The Forth & Clyde and Union Canals were linked by a flight of 11 locks which took nearly a day to transit. These were dismantled in 1933.
The concept of a wheel as a boat lift was first considered as a solution for Falkirk. Other ideas included rolling eggs, tilting tanks, a giant see-saw and overhead monorails!
The final design is claimed to have been inspired by a Celtic double headed spear, a vast turning propeller of a Clydebank built ship, the ribcage of a whale and the spine of a fish.
Work started on the ambitious £84.5million Millennium Link projects to rejoin the two canals.
Parts were constructed and assembled, like one giant Meccano set, in Derbyshire, then dismantled and transported to Falkirk in 35 lorry loads before being bolted back together and craned into position.
1,200 tonnes of steel was used to create The Wheel and over 1,000 construction staff helped to build it.
The structure contains over 15,000 bolts which are matched with 45,000 bolts holes. Each of these bolts was hand tightened.
The world’s first and only rotating boat lift was opened by Her Majesty, The Queen.
The Falkirk Wheel is 35 metres tall, the equivalent of 8 double decker buses stacked on top of each other.
The 600 tonne gondolas hold 500,000 litres of water, enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool.
The Wheel only uses 1.5kWh of energy to turn, the same amount as it would take to boil 8 household kettles.
More than 5.5million visitors have taken a trip to visit The Wheel since it opened in 2002.
Watch this video to find out how The Falkirk Wheel works!