Falkirk Wheel
The Falkirk Wheel near Falkirk in Scotland, was a Millennium project built at a cost of £84 million to connect the Forth & Clyde Canal with the Union Canal at the place where 11 locks had been dismantled in 1933 and thereby preventing any further through navigation. The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift which raises boats, held in a pair of precisely balanced gondolas to a height of 115 ft using very little energy, making it the only one of its type anywhere in the world. Now there is just one lock below the Falkirk Wheel and a doublle lock just above instead of the original 11 dismantled locks. There is also a new tunnel where the new section passes under the Antonine Wall which was an ancient Roman fortification. The canal maintains its level using embankments, cuttings and major aqueducts, rather than following the lands contours. The Falkirk Wheel Visitor Centre offers scheduled one-hour, round trip boat tours, called "The Falkirk Wheel Experience", that include passage on the wheel. The tours start below the wheel in the Forth & Clyde Canal, ascend via the wheel to the Union Canal, visit nearby areas on the Union Canal, and then returns.