Caledonian Canal

The Caledonian fault has only been used for transport since the beginning of the 19th century. Thomas Telford set to work on the canal in 1803 and it was finally completed in 1849. As a result, shipping was spared the hazardous northern route through the Pentland Forth between the Scottish mainland and the Orkneys. Since then, the rail and road network has carried most of the east-west freight but a number of small vessels ply up and down the canal. But today it is the leisure industry which makes most use of the canal with holiday makers in hired boats and canoes enjoying the magnificent scenery along the waterway. Only a third of the canal's length is man-made. The major part of it consists of narrow lochs. After Loch Linnhe, which is actually a fjord, i.e. a valley with steep sides formed by glaciation and then flooded by the sea, comes Loch Lochy, the small Loch Oich and then the longest - and best- known - the 24mi/38.4km Loch Ness. The full Caledonian Canal including lochs extends for 60.5mi/96.8km, reaches a depth of on average 16ft/4.87m and passes through no fewer than 29 locks. The main difficulty in the canal's construction arose near Corpach on Loch Lochy where it was necessary to lower the level of the lake by 93ft/28.5m to sea level.