The Falkirk Wheel Explained

The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift in Tamfourhill, central Scotland. The structure connects two historic canals.

Planners rejected a plain lock flight for this dramatic landmark. Tony Kettle modelled early diagrams using his daughter's Lego.

The final shape resembles a double-headed Celtic axe. Engineers also studied ship propellers and whale ribcages for inspiration.

Workers assembled the wheel in Derbyshire, then dismantled it. Flat-pack furniture on a civic scale.

The Falkirk Wheel uses the energy of boiling eight kettles per half-turn.

Sections are bolted together using over 14,000 bolts and 45,000 bolt holes.

Queen Elizabeth II opened the wheel on 24 May 2002. Vandals delayed it by one month.

Each caisson holds 250,000 litres of water. Archimedes' principle keeps the opposing arms perfectly balanced as boats enter.