Falkirk

Scotland has a canal system that cuts the country in half. Used originally to move goods, that purpose has largely been replaced by trucks and rail. The canal system is primarily used for light transport and recreational boating. To traverse the canals there used to be 14 locks which would take about 10 hours to clear altogether. Recently Scotland completed the construction of the Falkirk Wheel which eliminated 12 of the 14 locks. Transit time about 4 minutes. I had seen pictures of this previously and wanted to see it in person. Here it is.

Next stop; London.

The canal enters the site on top of the hill n the background. It then flows through a tunnel and ...
... out onto the bridge leading to the wheel itself. The wheel contains a closed container full of water and big enough to hold the canal boats ...
... which it lowers to the canal level below. Here you can see the wheel in operation.
The container, the water, the boats and the wheel weigh about 600 tons and cycle every 4 or 5 minutes. There is a nice visitor center here and grounds that are open free to the public. Judging by all the people there when we were, it is a popular place for a picnic. You need to pay for a ride on the wheel, however..