Falkirk Wheel gets outstanding award

The Saltire Society has chosen the Falkirk Wheel as the most outstanding civil engineering awards entry in Scotland during the last 25 years. The judges considered the wheel to be a unique multi-disciplinary project well worthy of the prestigious top 25th anniversary award.

The Wheel is part of the Millennium Link, an ambitious project to restore canal links across central Scotland. The major challenge was that the level of the Forth & Clyde Canal was 35m below that of the Union Canal.

Tony Gee & Partners carried out the structural steelwork design for this innovative boat lift that links the two canals. The 1,200t of steel were bolted together on the ground and lifted in place in five large sections using over 15,000 bolts.

This is the second time the multi-award winning project has been recognised by the Saltire Society. In 2002, after the project was completed the Society recognised the rotating boat lift with a Civil Engineering award.