Falkirk Wheel Scotland

On our recent trip to Scotland we were lucky enough to have enough time to visit the Falkirk Wheel Boat Lift. The 35 meter tall Wheel is a rotating boat lift that connects the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. Previously these canals were connected by a series of 11 locks that stepped down across a distance of 1.5km.

Falkirk Wheel Boat Lift

The Falkirk Wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world, and is regarded as an engineering landmark for Scotland.

Falkirk Wheel Boat Lift Scotland

Falkirk Wheel quick facts:

The Falkirk Wheel is 35 mt tall, the equivalent of an eight storey building
Cost £17.5 million to build
1,200 tonnes of steel was used to create The Wheel
The structure contains over 14,000 bolts and 45,000 bolt holes
Over 1,000 construction staff helped to build it
The gondolas hold 500,000 lt of water, enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool
The Falkirk Wheel only uses 1.5KWh of energy to turn through one rotation, the same amount as it would take to boil 8 household kettles

Each gondola holds 300 tonnes of water

Note that trips on the Falkirk Wheel stop operating during November each year for maintenance, although the visitors centre remains open to the public.

Visits to the Wheel are free or you can take the “The Falkirk Wheel Experience” which is a one hour tour which includes travel on the wheel from the Forth & Clyde Canal, 35mt up to the Union Canal and then return.