Fort Augustus Swing Bridge

Fort Augustus Swing Bridge

Constructed in the 1930's


Fort Augustus Swing Bridge carries the A82 across the Caledonian Canal adjacent to the staircase of locks which lowers the Canal down to Loch Ness. The original timber deck was replaced in 1981 by a steel battle deck; a two metre wide cantilever walkway was also added to the side of the deck at the same time.

The deck is counterbalanced in the tail span and is supported on the main pintle bearing and two tail wheels during the slewing operation to allow craft to pass through the navigation.

Fort Augustus Swing Bridge nose wedge

Hydraulically operated wedges are installed at the nose end and adjacent to the pintle to support the deck when traffic crosses the bridge.

(Photograph reproduced with the kind permission of British Waterways)

 
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