Barton Swing Aqueduct
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The Barton Swing Aqueduct (Grid ref: SJ 767 976) is a feat of late Victorian civil engineering. Located at Barton upon Irwell in north-west England, it carries the Bridgewater Canal over the Manchester Ship Canal.
It is a form of swing bridge. In its closed position, it allows canal traffic to pass along the Bridgewater Canal. However, when large vessels need to pass along the Ship Canal, the massive iron trough (234ft long and weighing 800 tonnes) can be swung through ninety degrees via a pivot mounted on a small purpose-built island in the Ship Canal to allow them to pass. Gates at either end of the trough retain around 800 tonnes of water within the trough; further gates on either bank retain water in their adjacent stretches of canal. The aqueduct originally had a suspended towpath along its length. This has been removed in recent years on safety grounds.
The swing aqueduct was designed by Sir Edward Leader Williams, engineer to the Manchester Ship Canal Company, and built by Andrew Handyside of Derby. It became operational in 1893 (Williams was also involved with the design of the region's other major 'moving canal' feat: the Anderton Boat Lift in Cheshire).
