The Banavie Railway Swing Bridge carries the
West Highland Line
The West Highland Line ( – "Iron Road to the Isles") is a railway line linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban in the Scottish Highlands to Glasgow in Central Scotland. The line was voted the top rail journey in the world by readers of indepen ...
across the
Caledonian Canal
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.
Route
The can ...
at
Banavie
Banavie (; ) is a small settlement near Fort William in the Highland Council Area of Scotland. One of the closest villages to Ben Nevis, it is about 4 kilometres ( miles) northeast of Fort William town centre, next to Caol and Corpach.
It h ...
.
History
Construction of the extension from
Mallaig Extension Railway
The Mallaig Extension Railway is a railway line in Highland, Scotland. It runs from Banavie Junction (New) on the Banavie Pier branch of the West Highland Railway to Mallaig. The previous "Banavie Junction" closer to Fort William was rename ...
began in January 1887, and the line opened on 1 April 1901.
The bridge was manufactured by Alex Findlay & Co. of
Motherwell
Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
.
[
]
Design
The bridge is an asymmetric bow truss, with more reinforcement at the end where it is held.
Its operation is fully automated and is controlled by Network Rail staff in the signal box located only a few yards away.A830 road
The A830, also known as the Road to the Isles (though it forms only a part of the historic route) is a major road in Lochaber, Scottish Highlands. It connects the town of Fort William to the port of Mallaig.
Route
The A830 is 46 miles long ...
across the canal.
See also
*Banavie railway station
Banavie railway station is a railway station on the West Highland Line serving the village of Banavie, although it is much closer to Caol, Scotland. It is sited between Corpach and Fort William, from Banavie Junction, just north of Fort Wil ...
References
Sources
* {{cite book, last1=Thomas, first1=John, title=The West Highland Railway, year=1971, publisher=Pan Books, isbn=0-330-02479-5
Swing bridges in Scotland
Bridges in Highland (council area)
Bridges completed in 1901
1901 establishments in Scotland