Falkirk Wheel

Picture of Falkirk Wheel, First and only rotating boat lift
Started on
Age
 Friday May 24, 2002
22
years
6
months
30
days
Next birthday in

Basic information

Category
others
Country
United Kingdom
Description
First and only rotating boat lift

Rotating boat lift, connects the Forth & Clyde and Union canals 35m metres above, which allows coast to coast navigation across central Scotland.

It is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world and one of two working boat lifts in the United Kingdom, the other being the Anderton Boat Lift.

The wheel has an overall diameter of 35 m (115 ft) and consists of two opposing arms extending 15 m (49 ft) beyond the central axle and taking the shape of a Celtic-inspired, double-headed axe.

The wheel itself is 35 meters tall and raises boats by 24 meters. Since the Union Canal is 11 meters higher than the wheel, there are two locks that boats must pass through after the trip on the wheel.

The 600 tonne gondolas hold 500,000 litres of water, the Wheel only uses 1.5kWh of energy to turn. 

Work started in 1998, opened in 2002 by Queen Elisabeth II as part of her Golden Jubilee celebrations. 

Find more information about Falkirk Wheel on Wikipedia

Half birthday

Next half birthday falls on
Saturday November 22, 2025
It is going to happen in

Age in different time units

Months   Weeks   Days   Hours   Minutes   Seconds  

Planet Age

How old Falkirk Wheel would be if it was started on a different planet
Mercury
93.77 years
Venus
36.71 years
Mars
12.01 years
Jupiter
1.9 years
Saturn
0.77 years
 
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Falkirk Wheel - Celebrations from his DOB

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