The Barton Swing Aqueduct is a moveable aqueduct in Barton upon Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. It carries the Bridgewater Canal across the Manchester Ship Canal, the swinging action allows large vessels using the Manchester Ship Canal to pass underneath and smaller narrowboats to cross over the top. The aqueduct is a Grade II* listed building and is considered a major feat of Victorian civil engineering. Designed by Sir Edward Leader Will...
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The Barton Swing Aqueduct is a moveable aqueduct in Barton upon Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. It carries the Bridgewater Canal across the Manchester Ship Canal, the swinging action allows large vessels using the Manchester Ship Canal to pass underneath and smaller narrowboats to cross over the top. The aqueduct is a Grade II* listed building and is considered a major feat of Victorian civil engineering. Designed by Sir Edward Leader Williams and built by Andrew Handyside of Derby, it opened in 1894 and remains in regular use.
The Barton Swing Aqueduct was a direct replacement for the earlier Barton Aqueduct, a stone structure crossing the River Irwell. The original stone aqueduct was designed by James Brindley and dated from 1761; it was described as "one of the seven wonders of the canal age".
The construction of the Manchester Ship Canal in the 1890s necessitated the replacement of this structure, as the height of ships using the new ship canal would make them too large to...
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