Manchester Ship Canal Cruise 2018

The Salford Quays lift bridge, also known as the Salford Quays Millennium footbridge or the Lowry bridge, is a 91.2-metre long vertical lift bridge spanning the Manchester Ship Canal between Salford and Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. Wikipedia

The Salford Quays lift bridge, also known as the Salford Quays Millennium footbridge or the Lowry bridge, is a 91.2-metre long vertical lift bridge spanning the Manchester Ship Canal between Salford and Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. Wikipedia

Centenary Bridge is one of only three of its type in Britain and the deck can be lifted 15 metres between two pairs of towers, 30 metres high, to allow the passage of ships. Her Majesty The Queen opened it on the 1 December 1994 as part of the Manchester Ship Canal's centenary celebrations. It was the first low-level opening bridge to be built across the canal since it opened in 1894.

The structure is located adjacent to, and downstream of, the Barton Swing Aqueduct. The two crossings are controlled from a brick-built valve house, on a 122 metres (400 ft) x 9 metres (30 ft) man-made island in the centre of the canal. The tower is four stories high, each with a 2x2 bay and accessed via an external staircase. The bridge opens to let shipping traffic through the Manchester Ship Canal, which occurs up to 14 times a day.The island supports the pivot points for the bridges' rotating structures, which are fixed in concrete. When in their open positions, the aqueduct and road bridge line up along the length of the island, allowing ships to traverse along each side of the ship canal. The bridge is a steel arch of girders, and connects to the pivot point via a rack and pinion system. It is the only swing road bridge on the canal that rotates from the centre, instead of from one end.[Wilipedia]

Treated sludge from Davyhulme Sewage Works was loaded into ships and discharged into the Mersey estuary from 1898. Over the next hundred years, seven ships were used to transport the sludge, including one borrowed from Glasgow after another hit a mine and sank. At first, ships used the ship canal to transport sludge from the works, but later a pipeline was built to Liverpool, and the ships made a much shorter journey. (Wikipedia)

Floating crane

Floating crane

Floating crane

Cadishead Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct of multi-lattice girder construction. It was built in 1892 by the Cheshire Lines Committee to clear the newly built Manchester Ship Canal to carry the new deviation of the Glazebrook to Woodley Main Line. The central span is 40 yards (37 m) long, and the clearance is 75 feet (23 m). It opened to goods on 27 February 1893 and to passenger traffic on 29 May 1893. Following the withdrawal of passenger services in 1964, the line became goods only, and when expensive repairs to the viaduct were needed in the early 1980s, British Rail closed the viaduct and the preceding line towards Glazebrook. It is now blocked with containers on each end owing to anti-social behaviour and to stop people walking across it, as the deck of the viaduct is in a very bad state with major corrosion setting in on the soffits and trough decking of the major steel span of the viaduct. (Wikipedia)