Bridge No. 47, Union Canal

This is a bridge, dating to circa 1820, built as part of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal. The canal, begun in 1818 and opened in May 1822, connected Edinburgh to the Forth and Clyde Canal near Falkirk, completing the inland waterway link between Scotland’s two major cities. The bridge was designed by Hugh Baird, with advice from Telford on the three main aqueducts. It is a segmental-arched structure constructed from coursed whinstone rubble, with a brick parapet that has been rebuilt. Numbers are inscribed beside the keystone. When completed, the canal was 31 and a half miles long, with dimensions of 5 feet deep, 37 feet wide at the surface, and 20 feet wide at the bottom. The Union Canal is designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM No. 4170), having been scheduled on 15 December 2003.