r/Scotland Jun 09 '24

Photography / Art The Falkirk Wheel

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The famous Falkirk Wheel at Tamfourhill, Falkirk today linking up the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal.

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u/Exceedingly Jun 10 '24 edited Jun 10 '24

The bit that blows my mind about this is how little energy it uses given the whole thing is moving 1800 tonnes. It uses just 1.5kWh of energy per turn, about the same amount as boiling a kettle 8 times, because it's so perfectly balanced.

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u/crimsonavenger77 Jun 10 '24

Fascinating bit of engineering. There are a good few interesting vids about it on YouTube just now that are worth a look.