The Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct, near

Longdon-on-Tern Longdon-Upon-Tern (also known as Longdon-on-Tern or colloquially Longdon) is a village in east central Shropshire, England. It is in the unitary district of Telford and Wrekin, and is approximately east of Shrewsbury and north-west of Telfor ...

in Shropshire, was one of the first two canal aqueducts to be built from

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuri ...

History

The

canal aqueduct was re-engineered by

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scot ...

after the first construction designed by William Clowes was swept away by floods. It was built in 1796 to carry the Shrewsbury Canal across the

River Tern The Indian river tern or just river tern (''Sterna aurantia'') is a tern in the family Laridae. It is a resident breeder along inland rivers from Iran east into the Indian Subcontinent and further to Myanmar to Thailand, where it is uncommon ...

near

in Shropshire. The aqueduct was opened one month after

Benjamin Outram Benjamin Outram (1 April 1764 – 22 May 1805) was an English civil engineer, surveyor and industrialist. He was a pioneer in the building of canals and tramways. Life Born at Alfreton in Derbyshire, he began his career assisting his father J ...

's cast iron Holmes Aqueduct on the

Derby Canal The Derby Canal ran from the Trent and Mersey Canal at Swarkestone to Derby and Little Eaton, and to the Erewash Canal at Sandiacre, in Derbyshire, England. The canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1793 and was fully completed in 179 ...

, the world's first cast iron canal aqueduct. Since the closure of the Shrewsbury Canal in 1944, the aqueduct has been disused. The aqueduct is an

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

and has been on the register since 30 March 1971.

Description

The canal was carried in a cast iron trough wide, deep and long and divided in four spans, each of .

References

{{Commonscat, Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct, position=left Bridges completed in 1796 Grade I listed bridges Grade I listed buildings in Shropshire Bridges by Thomas Telford Shrewsbury Canal Cast iron aqueducts 1796 establishments in Great Britain

History

Description

See also

References