Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/252



EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW UNION CANAL.
57 Geo. III. C. 56, R. A. 27th June, 1817.

59 Geo. III. C. 29, R .A. 19th May, 1819.

1 &amp; 2 Geo. IV. C. 122, R. A. 23rd June, 1821.

4 Geo. IV. C. 18, R.A. 12th May, 1823.

7 Geo. IV. C. 45, R. A. 5th May, 1826.

THE Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal commences from the sixteenth lock of the Forth and Clyde Navigation, about two miles west of Falkirk, in the county of Sterling, whence it takes an eastwardly course on the south side of the above-mentioned town, by some collieries; thence, through Black Hill Tunnel, and across the Glen Water, on which stream, at a short distance to the southward, is constructed a considerable reservoir. Its line hence is by Brighton Freestone Quarries, and about a mile north from Park Hill Colliery, to the Avon River, over which there is an aqueduct conveying the canal at an elevation of 80 feet above the surface of the river. The canal here enters the county of Linlithgow, and passes within a mile and a half on the south side of its capital, to Craighton House, where its course is more southerly and circuitous, to the River Almond, near Clifton House, where it crosses into Edinburghshire, by means of an aqueduct. Its course hence is by Ratho House, and across Leith River, to the city of Edinburgh, where it terminates by a basin at the Lothian Road, about half a mile south-west of the castle. The length of the canal is thirty miles, the depth of water 5 feet, and is on one level from Edinburgh to its western extremity, where it falls 110 feet, in one series of locks, into the Forth and Clyde Canal.

This navigation is supplied by feeders from all the streams it crosses, and from reservoirs constructed for that purpose; one of which is at Barbauchlay, in the parishes of Torphichan and Shotts, and in the counties of Linlithgow and Lanark; another at Loch Coat, in the parish of Torphichan, and another at Cobbinshaw, in the parish of West Calder. There is a feeder of more than three miles in length, taken from below the junction of the Linhouse and Almond Rivers, which crosses the latter river by a suspension aqueduct; and between which and the aqueduct over the Almond River there are three tunnels, one of which is more than half a mile in length; there is also another feeder from the Avon River.