Slateford Aqueduct

Carrying the Union Canal across the Water of Leith and Inglis Green Road in the Slateford district of Edinburgh, the Slateford Aqueduct is located 2½ miles (4 km) southwest of the city centre. Built 1819-22, this eight-arch masonry structure was designed by the noted engineer Thomas Telford (1757 - 1834) and executed by Hugh Baird (1770 - 1827). It is identical in its fundamental design to the other aqueducts on the canal over the Rivers Avon and Almond. Each arch is 15.2m (50 feet) giving the crossing an overall length of 183m (600 feet). The canal itself is contained in cast-iron trough, braced against the masonry walls with iron stays, and is 2.1m (7 feet) deep and 4.1m (13½ feet) wide, with a towpaths along the northern side only. The Slateford Viaduct lies adjacent.

Category-B listed in 1970, the aqueduct is the property of British Waterways.


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