Bridge 58 On The Rochdale Canal - Firgrove, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 36.982 W 002° 07.630
30U E 557738 N 5941193
This road bridge on the Rochdale Canal had to be re-built when the canal was re-opened and the in-filled channel excavated.
Waymark Code: WMJ94R
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/13/2013
Views: 2
The Canal History
The Rochdale Canal was completed in 1804 and is one of three canals that cross the Pennine hills. This is the only one that doesn’t use long tunnels. In addition it was a broad canal with bridges and locks that allowed boats of 14 feet width to pass through.
The one downside of not using tunnels is that it originally had 92 locks. These days the original locks 3 and 4 have been combined into one deep lock.
Competition from railways and roads subsequently led to a decline in goods being carried and by 1937 the only section left in operation was at the Manchester end of the canal.
In 1965 there was talk of abandoning the canal but by this time leisure boating had become very popular in the UK and there was a campaign to keep it open. Work was started and the canal slowly re-opened in a number of different stages. The whole length finally reopened in September 2002.
Details of this bridge
Not only had the canal fallen into disuse some parts of it had actually been filled in. This bridge is at one of those sites. When The UK’s National Lottery announced plans to fund special projects for the millennium celebrations, the Waterways Trust applied for a grant. They were awarded a lottery grant of 11.3 million pounds.
Some of these funds were used to dig out this part of the canal and build a new bridge to carry The A640 over the canal. The bridge has a concrete deck to carry the road, supported by red brick walls next to the bridge.
A plaque on the bridge records the fact that it was a Millennium Commission Lottery Funded Project.
Related web site: [Web Link]
Can you tell us who created the item: Waterways Trust
Condition of the item: Great
So what did YOU do for the millennium?: Attended a party
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