CHIRK AQUEDUCT 1801 Wales Thomas Telford HEW 111 SJ286 37 N52o 55’ 39.3” W3o 3’ 23.6”

Although this striking aqueduct appears to be a masonry structure, Telford pioneered the use of cast iron plates cast by William Hazeldine to make up the five feet deep troughs which carries the Llangollen Branch of the Ellesmere Canal above the valley of the Ceidriog River. The flanged plates were bolted together and incorporated into the masonry. By using iron Telford was able to reduce the depth of the masonry side and hence the weight above the piers which meant that the arches while bold in profile at the piers seem breathtakingly thin and elegant at the tops of the arches. This aqueduct was built after his Longdon-on-Tern and before the Pontcysyllte Aqueducts.