Cosgrove aqueduct

Cosgrove aqueduct is a navigable cast iron trough navigable aqueduct that carries the Grand Union Canal over the River Great Ouse, on the borders between Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire at the northwest margin of Milton Keynes in England. The present structure was built in 1811, to replace a previous brick structure that had failed. When the present structure was erected, it was known as the "Iron Trunk".
The structure has two cast iron trough spans, with a single central masonry pier. The abutments were constructed in masonry but have been refaced in brick during the twentieth century. The trough is 15 feet wide, 6 ft 6 in deep, with a total length of 101 feet . The canal surface is about 40 feet above the surface of the river. There are large approach earthworks about 36 feet high above the valley floor and 150 feet wide, with a total length of half a mile .

The Grand Junction Canal required to cross the course of the River Great Ouse, the lowest point between the summits at Tring and Braunston. Initially flights of locks, four at the southeast and five at the northwest, were used to allow the canal to descend to cross the river on the level, and this arrangement came into action in 1800. However William Jessop, the canal company’s engineer, designed a three-arch brick viaduct so that the canal could cross at a higher level, reducing the water loss and delay in locking down to river level.
His structure was opened on 26 August 1805, but a section of the canal embankment collapsed in January 1806; this was repaired, but the aqueduct structure itself collapsed in February 1808, severing the canal.

More information

Comments Statistics

| | Public