River Cart Aqueduct | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 55°50′24″N4°24′23″W / 55.839986°N 4.406396°W |
Carries | Paisley Canal Line |
Crosses | River Cart |
Heritage status | Category A |
Characteristics | |
Material | Stone |
Height | 30 feet (9.1 m) |
No. of spans | 1 |
History | |
Engineering design by | John Rennie and Thomas Telford |
Opened | 1811 (opened in 1885 as railway bridge) |
Location | |
The River Cart Aqueduct, sometimes known as the Blackhall Bridge, is a railway bridge and former navigable aqueduct in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. It opened in 1811 as an aqueduct to carry the Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal over the White Cart Water. Following the closure of the canal in 1881, it was converted to a railway bridge in 1885, and now carries the Paisley Canal Line. It is registered as a Category A listed building by Historic Environment Scotland. [1]
The aqueduct was built between 1808 and 1810, and opened in 1811 to carry the Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal. [2] John Rennie and Thomas Telford were involved in the engineering process. [3] [4] The contractor was John Simpson and the cost of construction was £5,440.
The canal was closed in 1881, and converted to run the Paisley Canal Line, which opened in 1885. [2]
It is a freestone masonry segmental arch of 88 feet 6 inches (27 m) span and a height over the water of about 30 feet (9 m). The bridge is probably the longest span masonry aqueduct of the canal age on a British canal, and one of the world's earliest bridges carrying a public railway. It was widened to carry the double track railway, and the line crosses the bridge at a slight skew because of the easing of the sharp canal curvature. [4] [5] [6]
When the aqueduct carried the canal, it was only the width of a single boat, making it necessary to wait for another boat to pass at times. [7]
Renfrewshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
The Caledonian Canal connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William in Scotland. The canal was constructed in the early nineteenth century by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford.
Johnstone is a town in the administrative area of Renfrewshire and larger historic county of the same name, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.
Crookston is a residential suburb on the southwestern edge of the city of Glasgow, Scotland.
The River Cart is a tributary of the River Clyde, Scotland, which it joins from the west roughly midway between the towns of Erskine and Renfrew and opposite the town of Clydebank.
The Paisley Canal line is a branch railway line in Scotland running between Glasgow and Paisley. The line currently terminates at Paisley Canal railway station, although it previously continued through Paisley West station, near Ferguslie, to Elderslie junction where it met and crossed under the main Glasgow and South Western Railway line running from Paisley Gilmour Street station to Johnstone, and beyond. After Elderslie, the line terminated at North Johnstone, however another junction allowed services from the Paisley Canal line to continue onto the Bridge of Weir Railway and Greenock and Ayrshire Railway to the latter's terminus at Greenock Princes Pier.
The Kelvin Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct in Glasgow, Scotland, which carries the Forth and Clyde Canal over the River Kelvin.
The Dalry and North Johnstone Line was a branch of the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) in Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, Scotland, connecting the stations in Elderslie and Dalry via a route running parallel to the existing line built by the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway. This provided additional line capacity for Ayrshire Coast and Kilmarnock services. The loop line was used for passenger services until the mid-1960s, when it was closed by the Beeching Axe. The majority of the line's trackbed has since been absorbed into the Sustrans National Cycle Network.
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Laigh Milton Viaduct is a railway viaduct near Laigh Milton mill to the west of Gatehead in East Ayrshire, Scotland, about five miles west of Kilmarnock. It is probably the world's earliest surviving railway viaduct on a public railway, and the earliest known survivor of a type of multi-span railway structure subsequently adopted universally.
The Forth and Cart Canal was a short 1⁄2-mile (800-metre) link canal which provided a short cut between the Forth and Clyde Canal, at Whitecrook, and the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Cart. It was intended to provide a transport link between the town of Paisley, the Firth of Forth and Port Dundas, Glasgow, without having to go via Bowling, some 7 miles downstream on the Clyde. The Forth and Cart Canal was closed in 1893. Railway works destroyed most of it soon afterwards.
The Ballochmyle Viaduct is the tallest extant railway viaduct in Britain. It is 169 feet (52 m) high, and carries the railway over the River Ayr near Mauchline and Catrine in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It carries the former Glasgow and South Western Railway line between Glasgow and Carlisle.
The Almond Aqueduct, also known as the Lin's Mill Aqueduct, is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Union Canal over the River Almond in Scotland, west of Ratho, Edinburgh.
The Levern Water, is a small river in East Renfrewshire and Glasgow, Scotland. It rises in the Long Loch, and flows generally north and east, past the towns of Neilston and Barrhead, for a total distance of 9 miles (14 km). It empties into the White Cart River.
The Slateford Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Union Canal over the Water of Leith at Slateford, Edinburgh, Scotland. Completed in 1822, it has eight arches and spans a length of 500 feet (150 m).
The Avon Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Union Canal over the River Avon, near Linlithgow, Scotland.
Abbey Bridge is grade B listed road-bridge over the White Cart Water in the centre of Paisley in Scotland. It was erected in 1879, widened in 1933, and comprehensively restored in 2009.
Renfrewshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, formally established in 1996 to succeed the Renfrew district within the Strathclyde region, both of which were abolished; the headquarters are at Paisley.