Barton Swing Aqueduct, Manchester Ship Canal: Barton
The Manchester Ship Canal, built between 1887 and 1893, involved not only the cutting of the canal but the construction of numerous road and rail bridges. At Barton-upon-Irwell it was also necessary to replace the stone aqueduct built by Brindley over a century before, to carry the Bridgewater Canal over the River Irwell. Leader Williams had first considered lifts on each side similar to that which he had designed at Anderton, but abandoned the idea. Instead, the Bridgewater Canal was carried on a swing aqueduct, a 235 feet long iron trough giving a channel 19 feet wide and six feet deep.
The swinging section of aqueduct and the two ends of the canal were sealed with hinged doors closed by small hydraulic rams. Between the aqueduct and the canal at each end a U-shaped iron section 12 inches wide and profiled as the canal was slid away hydraulically to give sufficient room for the aqueduct to swing freely. When returned to their normal position they provided the perfect seal necessary to prevent undue loss of water from the Bridgewater Canal. Like the adjacent wrought iron road bridge the aqueduct rested on an annular girder with a central pivot and a table of sixty-four roller bearings. It turned on its central axis, driven hydraulically through a system of rack and pinions. Full of water, the aqueduct weighed 1400 tons as was partially supported centrally by a powerful hydraulic ram which could be forced upwards to support over half the weight. An artificial island was formed in the centre of the Ship Canal to carry the bridge and aqueduct together with the control tower and valve house, containing the operating machinery, engines and pumps. Originally, steam engines built by Armstrong Mitchell & Co of Newcastle were used to replace water lost from the accumulator during operation, but these were later replaced with electric pumps.
At the time the Ship Canal was built the use of hydraulic power was at its peak and eight hydraulic pumping stations were built along the length of the canal. In addition to the locks, sluices and bridges, it was used to power hoists and cranes in the docks and coal chutes at Partington.
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